Progressives Declare Sweeping Victory at Nov. 30 Local Elections

Aleksandar Vucic (BETAPHOTO/Predsednistvo Srbije/Dimitrije Goll)

President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic’s ruling Serbian Progressive Party has declared victory in all three municipalities where local elections took place on Nov. 30 – Mionica, Negotin and Secanj – while the opposition has stated that the vote was marred by numerous irregularities on the election day and those directly preceding it.

The official ballot count has not yet been released.

According to a Nov. 30 evening statement Vucic issued from the Progressive headquarters, his party won in all three municipalities, garnering 69.3 percent of votes in Negotin, while the united opposition ticket – which he dubbed “the blockader ticket” – won 26.7 percent of votes.

In Secanj, Vucic claimed, the Progressives again won with a sweeping 60.9 percent of voter support, while his ruling coalition partner the Socialist Party of Serbia took 4.7 percent of ballots and the opposition won 30.4 percent. Lastly, in Mionica, the Progressives were supported by 52.6 percent of voters, while the opposition ticket garnered 38.5 percent of votes.

Meanwhile, the nonprofit Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability (CRTA) has said that the elections in all three municipalities were marred by irregularities, including pressuring, blackmail, vote-buying and utilizing an extra electoral roll in addition to the official one.

A slew of incidents also took place in all three towns, including verbal and physical assaults. Due to the local police’s failure to intervene when CRTA monitors were attacked in Mionica, the NGO was forced to withdraw its people from the town before voting was concluded.