Current:Home > MyNear-final results confirm populist victory in Serbia while the opposition claims fraud-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Near-final results confirm populist victory in Serbia while the opposition claims fraud
View Date:2024-12-23 21:15:34
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — An early official vote count of Serbia’s weekend election on Monday confirmed victory for the ruling populist party in a parliamentary vote in the Balkan country, but political tensions rose over reported irregularities in the capital, Belgrade.
An opposition group said it was robbed of victory in the local election in Belgrade, would not recognize the results and would demand a rerun of the ballot.
Sunday’s parliamentary and local election in the Balkan country pitted populist President Aleksandar Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party against the Serbia Against Violence opposition alliance.
Vucic’s SNS party won some 47% of the ballots in the parliamentary vote, followed by Serbia Against Violence with 23%, according to a near-complete preliminary tally by the state election commission.
Several other smaller parties also competed in the election, which was held only 18 months after the previous presidential and parliamentary vote.
If confirmed in the final vote count, the result means that the SNS party will have an absolute majority in the 250-member parliament and will form the next government on its own.
Officials results for the city hall in Belgrade are yet to be announced, but projections by polling agencies IPSOS and CESID said SNS won 38% of the ballots in Belgrade while Serbia Against Violence garnered 35%. However, Serbia Against Violence claimed fraud, citing numerous reports of irregularities both during the campaign and on voting day.
Irregularities also were reported by election monitors and independent media. One claimed ethnic Serbs from neighboring Bosnia were bused in en masse to vote in Belgrade. Serbia Against Violence charged that 40,000 identity documents were issued for people who do not live in the capital city.
Another report said a monitoring team was assaulted and their car was attacked with baseball bats in a town in northern Serbia. Allegations have also emerged of voters being paid or pressured to vote for the ruling party.
“Problems that marked the election day on Dec. 17 were particularly serious in Belgrade, primarily caused by the intent to influence citizens’ electoral will,” said the independent Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability group which monitors elections in Serbia.
Vucic and his party have denied the allegations.
The opposition said it would lodge official complaints and called a street protest later on Monday.
“Hyperproduction of voters who do not live in Serbia, let alone in Belgrade, is a flagrant abuse of law,” opposition politician Marinika Tepic said early on Monday. “We will use all legal means at our disposal to democratically defend the voting will of people.”
The election didn’t include the presidency, but governing authorities backed by the dominant pro-government media ran the campaign as a referendum on Vucic.
Serbia Against Violence, a pro-European Union bloc, includes parties that were behind months of street protests this year triggered by two back-to-back mass shootings in May.
Serbia, a Balkan country that has maintained warm relations with Russia and President Vladimir Putin, has been a candidate for European Union membership since 2014, but has faced allegations of steadily eroding democratic freedoms over the past years.
.
veryGood! (8119)
Related
- Police identify 7-year-old child killed in North Carolina weekend shooting
- Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow jumps bail and moves to Canada
- We all know physical fitness is crucial. But how many days weekly should you work out?
- Recordings show how the Mormon church protects itself from child sex abuse claims
- 32-year-old Maryland woman dies after golf cart accident
- Sister Wives' Janelle Brown Details Sex Life With Ex Kody Brown
- Authorities say heavy rains and landslides in Tanzania kill at least 47 and hurt or strand many more
- Opening arguments begin in Jonathan Majors trial
- Judge weighs the merits of a lawsuit alleging ‘Real Housewives’ creators abused a cast member
- North Korea accuses US of double standards for letting South Korea launch spy satellite from US soil
Ranking
- Beyoncé's Grammy nominations in country categories aren't the first to blur genre lines
- Oxford University Press has named ‘rizz’ as its word of the year
- 32 things we learned from NFL Week 13: Why miss out on the playoff controversy fun?
- 'Madman' fatally stabs 4 family members, injures 2 officers in Queens, New York
- College football Week 12 expert picks for every Top 25 game include SEC showdowns
- Shooting at home in Washington state kills 5 including the suspected shooter, report says
- New data shows dog respiratory illness up in Canada, Nevada. Experts say treat it like a human cold
- North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum ends 2024 Republican presidential bid days before the fourth debate
Recommendation
-
MLS playoff teams set: Road to MLS Cup continues with conference semifinals
-
Spanish judge opens an investigation into intelligence agents who allegedly passed secrets to the US
-
College Football Playoff: Michigan, Washington, Texas, Alabama in. Florida State left out.
-
Run, run Rudolph: Video shows deer crashing through NJ elementary school as police follow
-
Brian Austin Green Shares Message to Sharna Burgess Amid Ex Megan Fox's Baby News
-
French foreign minister says she is open to South Pacific resettlement requests due to rising seas
-
Longtime 'Fresh Air' contributor Dave Davies signs off (sort of)
-
Police charge director of Miss Nicaragua pageant with running 'beauty queen coup' plot