Analyst: Elections Were Unfair, Opposition Should Refuse Seats in Local Assemblies

Local Elections in Serbia, June 2 2024 (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)

Political analyst Dragomir Andjelkovic claims that Serbia’s June 2 local elections were unfair and that, therefore, the opposition should refuse the “bare handful of seats” it managed to win in local assemblies.

Speaking for BETA on June 3, Andjelkovic stated that rejecting seats and delegitimizing the elections is the only way for the opposition to present a united front – re-aligning those parties which ran in the elections with those that boycotted the vote.

In his opinion, “anyone content to have a few local assemblymen can be considered a collaborator” of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, whose coalition won the absolute majority in most of the 89 municipalities and cities where local elections were held on June 2.

“Due to poor voting conditions and numerous electoral manipulations by the regime, yesterday’s elections were neither fair nor legitimate, and that’s why the opposition should absolutely reject the results. Vucic didn’t even try to give [the opposition] something substantial. The opposition will gain nothing and will permanently shame and discredit themselves in the eyes of voters if they accept this electoral fraud,” the analyst concluded.

The June 2 vote resulted in a landslide win for the coalition led by the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, with only five locations still awaiting results: the cities of Nis and Cacak, and three of Belgrade’s 17 municipalities – Stari Grad, Vracar and New Belgrade.