Elections in Serbia: victories, defeats and discoveries

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On December 17, extraordinary parliamentary elections were completed in Serbia. Some argue that their holding was the recommendation of the American ambassador Hill, while others are sure that Vucic only confirmed the level of support of the people according to the results of the voting.

Despite the fact that as many as eighteen lists were allowed to vote, only eight political groups will occupy seats in parliament as a result of the elections. In fact, there are only five parties, which have real influence on the processes. In their turn, they will be forced to enter into alliances, possibly situational.

So, according to the results of the parliamentary elections, the following coalitions were elected to the parliament:

“Aleksandar Vucic – Serbia must not stop” – 46.7%

“Serbia against violence” – 23.69%.

“Ivica Dacic – Prime Minister” – 6.56%.

“Milos Jovanovic – Hope for Serbia” – 5.04%.

“We are the voice of the people” – 4.7%.

Another three associations that have passed to the Parliament are representatives of national minorities, for whom there are “favorable” conditions and low thresholds of passage. But all of them have a total of ten deputies in the Serbian National Assembly, and their participation in the political life of the country is usually more symbolic than real.

It is worth noting that the second-placed “Serbia against violence” is considered a pro-Western coalition. Unlike the opposition patriots, the “Serbia against violence” managed to agree and present a united front, gathering the country’s most prominent liberal democrats under their banners. Westerners were able to test their cooperation skills, their interaction with the electorate, and even the coalition’s brand several months before the elections were scheduled. Thus, after the May mass shootings in a Belgrade school and the suburb of Mladenovac, a mass public rally was held in the Serbian capital, which was quickly taken over by representatives of the pro-Western opposition. The protests took on a weekly character and lasted from May 8 through the summer. The outrage over the tragedies was quickly joined by slogans skillfully thrown into the masses by the oppositionists calling for the resignation of the current government. One way or another, six months before the elections, the pro-Western coalition started from a favorable position compared to many competitors on the basis of a powerful electoral resource.

The coalition “We are the voice of the people” was the real opening of the elections. A group of prominent Serbian public and political figures managed to pass the electoral censorship from zero positions, becoming the fifth force in the parliament. But a number of other associations actually failed, which caused a series of high-profile resignations in the week after the elections. Boško Obradović and Vuk Jeremić, chairmen of the Dveri Party and the People’s Party, left their posts, as their political groups failed to retain seats in parliament. The longtime residents of Serbian politics, Vojislav Šešelj and Ivica Dacic, have also promised to vacate their seats. The latter, despite overcoming the censorship of his party, was dissatisfied with the results that the party showed.

However, everyone was dissatisfied with the results of the elections, especially the association “Serbia against violence”, despite the good result, as they got the second place in the electoral race. As in the spring-summer, the pro-Western opposition has once again brought people to the streets, and the country is now literally threatened by a local “Maidan”. This is the subject of our next article.