Absolute majority within reach
Vucic’s party wins parliamentary election in Serbia
December 17, 2023, 11:00 p.m
Vucic’s plan worked: his Serbian Progressive Party increased its majority in the early elections in Serbia. Observers believe that the president has also used illegal methods to increase his power.
According to election researchers, President Aleksandar Vucic’s party has won the parliamentary election in Serbia. After counting 80 percent of the votes cast, the Belgrade institutes Cesid and Ipsos saw the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) as the clear strongest force with 46 percent of the votes.
Compared to the previous election 17 months ago, the SNS gained two percentage points. If it stays that way, she would single-handedly have an absolute majority of 129 seats in the 250-seat People’s Assembly (Skupstina). The liberal opposition, which this time ran together as the “Serbia Against Violence” electoral alliance, received 23 percent of the vote and can count on 64 seats. Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic’s Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) became the third strongest force with 7 percent of the vote and 18 seats. It has ruled in a coalition with the SNS since 2012.
Vucic has no longer been formally SNS chairman since May, but continues to determine the party’s fate. He was heavily involved in the election campaign. The SNS was on the ballot papers as a list with the name “Aleksandar Vucic – Serbia must not stand still”. The opposition and election researchers accused the presidential party of around 450 violations of electoral regulations. Among other things, votes were bought and people from the Serbian part of Bosnia were brought to Belgrade in buses to vote there.
Critics: Thugs silence the opposition
Vucic dissolved parliament after less than two years. The president, who has been determining the country’s politics in various roles since 2012, repeatedly uses early elections to ensure the loyalty of his officials and supporters. Critics accuse him of an authoritarian style of government. According to these voices, Vucic abuses the government apparatus, police and secret services in order to economically ruin political competitors and defame them in public. At the same time, those in power around Vucic are in league with organized crime, according to observers’ allegations. Physical attacks on opposition members are often carried out by thugs from this milieu.
The main triggers for bringing forward the election were two mass shootings in May that left 18 dead, as well as conflicts in Kosovo, which has been independent since 2008. Serbia continues to claim its former province, which is now almost exclusively inhabited by Albanians, as its own. The May shootings sparked a massive protest movement against the Vucic government. She accused the government and its media of fomenting a climate of hatred and glorification of violence. As a result, the liberal opposition joined forces to form the electoral alliance “Serbia Against Violence”. Its politicians and supporters hope to capture the capital in local elections that were held at the same time.
The Chamber of Deputies of the semi-autonomous northern province of Vojvodina and 65 of 197 municipal councils in the country, including those in Belgrade, were also elected on Sunday. The State Election Commission plans to announce the preliminary final result tomorrow.