BELGRADE -- Serbia's ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) said it will rerun the December 17 Belgrade municipal elections, a vote marred by widespread allegations of fraud and irregularities.
Aleksandar Sapic, acting mayor and SNS vice president, made the announcement on March 2 after a meeting of SNS leaders, saying that “we are not afraid” of a new vote in the capital.
"We raised the bar [of legitimacy]. We made a decision to our detriment, but we are not afraid," Sapic said.
The December 17 elections were held at the parliamentary and provincial levels and in 65 cities and municipalities in Serbia, including Belgrade.
In its February 28 report on the elections, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said the voting was marked by irregularities, including the misuse of public funds and media dominance by President Aleksandar Vucic.
It stated that the elections "were dominated by the decisive participation of the president, which, together with the systemic advantages of the ruling party, created unfair conditions for the participants."
Other foreign and domestic observers also cited irregularities in the election process.
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Serbian Opposition Cries Foul As Ruling Party Wins Snap Elections
Street protests erupted following the elections as members of the pro-Europe opposition Serbia Against Violence coalition accused Vucic and the SNS of wide-scale fraud.
Vucic and his SNS allies denied the allegations, but Vucic nevertheless said he had asked for a new election. At a Belgrade news conference on March 2, Vucic called on the government to immediately start implementing the recommendations presented by the OSCE’s ODIHR unit.
The parliamentary speaker now has 30 days to set new elections.
In the December 17 vote, no grouping won enough votes to form a city government.
Belgrade's City Assembly has 110 councilors, and the SNS and its coalition partner Socialist Party of Serbia have a total of 54, leaving them two short of a majority. The Serbia Against Violence list has 43 councilors, while minor parties held the other seats.
The Serbia Against Violence coalition on March 2 said the decision to conduct a new vote in the capital was a "big victory for the opposition."
The nationalist Vucic has attempted to main good relations with the European Union -- which Serbia strives to join -- while keeping close ties to traditional ally Russia, even following the Kremlin's decision to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.