Member of Electoral Commission on Inauguration of Belgrade City Assembly

Zoran Alimpic (BETAPHOTO/Milan Ilic)

A member of the Belgrade City Electoral Commission, Zoran Alimpic, said on Feb. 21, that if Belgrade’s new legislature was not constituted, the coalitions Serbia Against Violence and NADA should hold a majority in Belgrade’s new provisional authority.

“It is only by illegal actions that the Government of Serbia can uphold the current composition of the Belgrade City Provisional Authority, unless a new city assembly is inaugurated and a new mayor appointed within a deadline prescribed by law,” Alimpic said in an interview with the Danas newspaper.

In the provisional authority established after Belgrade’s mayor Aleksandar Sapic had resigned ahead of new polls on Dec. 17, the ruling parties hold a majority, having three seats in the body, against the opposition’s two. Alimpic says that if a final decision is based on the results of the elections, or as he puts it, “math only,” the coalition rallied around the Serbian Progressive Party and the Serbia Against Violence coalition should have two seats each, whereas one should go to NADA, which came third in the December election race.

According to Alimpic, if the city assembly is not inaugurated until March 3, the Government of Serbia must set up a new provisional authority in the capital. “The cabinet may decide that the previous body can do the job just as well, keeping the same structure in place. Yet the previous composition was the result of the previous parliament, and we know that new elections have been held, and new alderpersons elected, whereas the terms in office of their predecessors have expired. The new provisional authority must reflect the political composition of the new assembly,” Alimpic said.