BELGRADE -- Serbia's ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) has declared victory in a repeat local election in the capital, Belgrade, and elsewhere in the country amid voter apathy, incidents, and claims of irregularities reported by the opposition and international monitors.
After the counting of more than 92 percent of the vote, the right-wing populist SNS backed by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic garnered 52.85 percent the vote, Belgrade's City Election Commission (GIK) announced on June 3.
That will give SNS 64 mandates in the 110-seat municipal assembly of the Serbian capital.
SNS's closest competitor -- the center-right Kreni-Promeni (Move-Change) led by Savo Manojlovic -- came a distant second at 17.61 percent, which will translate into 21 mandates, GIK said.
SNS won most of the other 88 cities, municipalities, and districts disputed on June 2, including Serbia's second-largest city, Novi Sad, in a vote that observers fro CRTA and CeSID NGOs said was marred by irregularities, including vote-buying or double registration of voters.
Scuffles and incidents between SNS activists and opposition supporters occurred in Belgrade and Novi Sad, where SNS had been accused of organizing illegal call centers to influence and bribe voters.
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Serbian Voters Skeptical About Repeated Belgrade Elections
The repeat polls came after SNS had narrowly won the December vote with 49 seats in the city council but was unable to form a municipal government, prompting a new election, amid weeks of protests over what the opposition said was electoral theft by the SNS.
The opposition also complained of irregularities in Serbia's June 2 vote, leaving the political environment tense in the Balkan nation of 7.1 million people.
"This is...an incredible victory," a beaming Vucic said in a news conference late on June 2.
Manojlovic said his coalition would not recognize the results. "These were most irregular elections ever," he told supporters late on June 2.
SNS has dominated Serbia's politics for more than a decade, imposing its control at virtually all levels of power in the Balkan state.
Serbia has been a candidate to join the European Union since 2012 and started negotiations to join the bloc in 2014, but progress has been slow under populist Vucic, who has sought closer ties with Russia and China.
Under Vucic, Belgrade has resisted EU calls to join sanctions on Russia over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine since February 2022.
Opposition groups have accused Vucic's government of rampant corruption and the stifling of democratic rights.
A fragmented opposition has also contributed to what observers say was voter apathy.
Turnout was some 10 percent lower compared to the vote in December. In the capital turnout was 46.5 percent and 49.3 percent in Novi Sad, according to the Center for Free Elections and Democracy and IPSOS.
Observers and opposition parties in the June 2 election reported what they said were irregularities during the day.
Lamberto Zannier of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said that “serious irregularities” occurred, including “violations of voting security.”
“While these elections were well-run, we nonetheless witnessed a dominance of the ruling party and misuse of public resources,” said Zannier, who heads of the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).
“Although fundamental freedoms were respected and voters were offered a wide range of political options, concerns about widespread pressure on public-sector employees and the misuse of public resources raised questions about the opportunity for voters to make their choice freely,” his report added.
CRTA said it had filed seven criminal complaints over alleged irregularities at polling stations, claiming its members had recorded incidents of the organized transporting of voters to the polls and money being exchanged for votes.
Police in the northwestern Serbian city of Novi Sad claimed some officers had been attacked, although law enforcement officials added that "there have been no serious incidents."
Following voting in December, no party was able to form a majority in the Belgrade City Assembly in an election that was highly criticized by international observers who cited "irregularities" in the local and national votes.
An amendment to Serbia's local-election laws allowed for the voting in Belgrade to coincide with previously scheduled elections in Novi Sad, Nis, and other cities and municipalities.
In Belgrade, voters elected representatives to four-year terms in the 110-member City Assembly who in turn vote on a mayor.
"I'm not particularly involved in politics, but I'm aware that we should go to the elections and vote for the one whose ideology suits us most," Nina, a voter in the capital, told RFE/RL's Balkan Service on election day.
She said she didn't expect "anything special" from the vote.
Another Belgrade voter said politicians are "full of promises" that they forget just as soon as they're elected. "You know, in my lifetime, that's happened four times, so people should come to their senses."