JUST IN: The Serbian president proclaims his victory in the partial municipal elections, marked by incidents
New information reveals that the following story has emerged from the international scene.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic did not wait for the official results to rejoice. On the evening of Sunday March 29, he proclaimed the victory of his party in the partial municipal elections, punctuated by numerous incidents involving supporters of his party on one side and activists and observers of a student movement and the opposition on the other. “Thank you to Serbia for this immense trust. These were difficult locations for us,” declared Aleksandar Vucic at a press conference, after proclaiming a “10 to 0” victory against the student movement and the opposition, two hours after the closing of the polling stations. The Electoral Commission is expected to publish on Monday the results of this vote which took place in ten localities, mainly in central Serbia. If only 3.8% of Serbian voters – almost 250,000 out of 6.5 million registered throughout the country – were called to vote, these elections were important both for the student movement, which proposed its own lists, and for the power of Aleksandar Vucic, who has led the country since 2014. According to the results presented by Aleksandar Vucic, his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS, nationalist right) won between 49% and 72% of the votes, ahead of the student movement which exceeded the threshold of 40% of the votes in several localities. First participation of the student movement The participation was massive: between 53% and 78%, announced national television (RTS). The student movement, born after an accident at the railway station in Novi Sad (north), during which 16 people died in the collapse of an awning in November 2024, was transformed into political action. Read alsoIn Serbia, a large demonstration one year after the death of Novi Sad Students have regularly demonstrated since this tragedy, sometimes bringing together several hundred thousand people, accusing the government of corruption and demanding early legislative elections. They presented their lists in each of the ten municipalities, with opposition parties or alone. A vote marked by incidents Incidents were reported in particular in Bajina Basta, Bor and Kula, near the polling stations or in front of SNS premises. Generally, these incidents broke out when observers delegated by the student movement tried to verify allegations concerning alleged irregularities, reported media and the NGO Crta, responsible for electoral monitoring. Both sides have accused each other of acts of violence. Around 6,750 observers were registered to monitor the voting process. In the morning, the student movement claimed on social networks that two members of their “mobile observation team” had been “sprayed with pepper gas”, then “injured in the head” by “beaters” in Bor. Members of another “mobile observation team” were attacked later in the day also in Bor, when they tried to film “suspicious” behavior by SNS supporters, one of the team members, Lazar Babovic, told the media. “We have prevented many irregularities (…) we will not give up,” said this student. Another incident occurred in Kula, where men wearing hoods or hoods on their heads, armed with bats and holed up in a stadium, attacked members of the opposing camp gathered nearby, some of whom responded by throwing stones or a lit torch in their direction, according to images broadcast on the networks. An electoral climate of “terror” The NGO Crta deplored in a press release “the terror targeting voters (…) physical attacks and acts of intimidation”. Crta also reported several “irregularities”, notably “cases of organized arrivals of voters at polling stations” and “violations of the rule of secret voting”. For its part, the SNS denounced the behavior of “activists and (those) responsible for the student lists”, affirming that they “harass, provoke and threaten (…) citizens”. Police said they arrested four people accused of attacking an SNS supporter. The President of Parliament, Ana Brnabic, close to President Vucic, denounced the “organized and carefully planned terror” of the students. Several journalists and pro-student activists were attacked and injured in Bor, the Revolt portal said, adding that one of their journalists suffered “serious injuries” to the head. With AFP
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Source: This article was originally published in another language by France 24 – Infos, news & actualités – L'information internationale en direct and has been translated and adapted for our global English-speaking audience. Read the original article here.