Belgrade Assembly Constitutive Session Halted, Pushed to March 1

Photo: Beta/Milos Miskov

The constitutive session of the Belgrade City Assembly, which had been scheduled for Feb. 19, has been postponed for March 1. The assembly initially convened as planned, at which time Toma Fila, an alderman of the coalition led by the Socialist Party of Serbia, noted that only 60 of the assembly’s 110 representatives were present and added that the session would “be continued on March 1.”

Those in attendance included opposition aldermen from the Serbia Against Violence coalition, which won 43 seats in the December 2023 elections, as well as representatives of the NADA coalition, which holds seven seats and comprises the New Democratic Party of Serbia and the Movement for the Restoration of the Kingdom of Serbia.

Representatives of the We – The Voice of the People ticket – which holds six seats in the capital’s assembly – were not present at the session. Branimir Nestorovic, the movement’s lead candidate, exited the assembly hall shortly before 10 a.m., when the meeting was set to start.

The Serbian Progressive Party and Socialist Party of Serbia, whose representatives failed to appear at the Feb. 19 session, together won 54 seats in the elections – two less than the majority necessary for them to continue heading Belgrade’s local government.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Feb. 18 that the majority needed to constitute the Assembly exists, while the opposition negates this claim.