Serbian elections took place under ‘unjust conditions,’ international observers say – as it happened
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Day after Aleksandar Vučić’s populist ruling party declared victory, concerns raised over vote-buying and ballot box stuffing. This live blog is closed
International observers find Serbia's election held under 'unjust conditions'
Serbia’s elections took place under “unjust conditions,” international observers said on Monday, one day after Aleksandar Vučić’s populist ruling party declared victory.
In a statement, an international observation mission said the “early parliamentary elections, though technically well-administered and offering voters a choice of political alternatives, were dominated by the decisive involvement of the president, which together with the ruling party’s systemic advantages created unjust conditions”.
The mission, which includes representatives from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the European parliament and the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe, also concluded that “fundamental freedoms were generally respected in the campaign, but it was marred by harsh rhetoric, bias in the media, pressure on public sector employees and misuse of public resources”.
Concerns were also raised about polling places:
Instances of serious irregularities, including vote-buying and ballot box stuffing, were observed. Measures for ensuring vote secrecy were insufficient.
Aleksandar Vučić’s ruling SNS party won Serbia’s snap parliamentary election.
Preliminary results put SNS on 46%, while the opposition coalition Serbia Against Violence took 23%.
There were reports of irregularities. An international observation mission said the election took place in “unjust conditions”. It noted that “instances of serious irregularities, including vote-buying and ballot box stuffing, were observed.”
Opposition politicians raised serious concerns about irregularities in Belgrade, where Vučić’s critics were hoping to do well in local elections.
Vladimir Obradović, the opposition coalition’s candidate for Belgrade mayor, said that “the campaign was unfair in all aspects from the beginning till the election day”. He said the results in Belgrade “do not represent the free will of the Belgrade citizens” and he demanded new elections.
An opposition protest is expected in Belgrade this evening.
The European Council president, Charles Michel, called a special leaders’ summit for 1 February.
The Turkish leader, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, visited the Hungarian leadership in Budapest.
Belgrade election must be repeated, mayoral candidate says
Vladimir Obradović, the opposition coalition Serbia Against Violence’s candidate for Belgrade mayor, said today that “the campaign was unfair in all aspects from the beginning till the election day”.
“Pressure on voters, buying votes, voters from other areas and even countries are only some of the irregularities that were observed and reported by independent monitoring missions,” he told the Guardian in an email.
He added:
Results of the elections in Belgrade do not represent the free will of the Belgrade citizens, and we cannot accept them. We demand new elections with fair conditions for all parties involved.
International observers find Serbia's election held under 'unjust conditions'
Serbia’s elections took place under “unjust conditions,” international observers said on Monday, one day after Aleksandar Vučić’s populist ruling party declared victory.
In a statement, an international observation mission said the “early parliamentary elections, though technically well-administered and offering voters a choice of political alternatives, were dominated by the decisive involvement of the president, which together with the ruling party’s systemic advantages created unjust conditions”.
The mission, which includes representatives from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the European parliament and the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe, also concluded that “fundamental freedoms were generally respected in the campaign, but it was marred by harsh rhetoric, bias in the media, pressure on public sector employees and misuse of public resources”.
Concerns were also raised about polling places:
Instances of serious irregularities, including vote-buying and ballot box stuffing, were observed. Measures for ensuring vote secrecy were insufficient.
“The elections were dominated by the decisive involvement of the president, which, together with ruling party’s systemic advantages, did create unjust conditions for the contestants in this election,” said Albert Jónsson, the head of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) mission.
Speaking at the international election observation mission’s press conference following Serbia’s elections, he said:
Let me also stress that while fundamental freedoms are generally respected in the campaign, it was marked by harsh rhetoric, bias in the media, pressure on public sector employees and misuse of public resources.
Slovenian MEP Klemen Grošelj, who heads the European parliament’s delegation, said at the press conference of the international election observer mission in Serbia that the mission received several reports of massive votes cast in Belgrade by voters from abroad and from other municipalities inside Serbia.
He called on the competent authorities to investigate properly.
The Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability, an independent civil society group which has been observing Serbia’s election, said today that the scope of irregularities in Belgrade means that the election outcome in the capital does not reflect the view of voters.
Considering the scope and diversity of electoral abuses in Belgrade we conclude that the results of the Belgrade elections do not reflect the freely expressed will of voters living in Belgrade.
Irregularities that directly compromised election results were recorded at five percent of polling stations in Parliamentary elections and at nine percent of polling stations in the Belgrade elections.
Stefan Schennach, another Austrian parliamentarian and head of the delegation representing the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, said at the international electoral observation mission’s press conference that the assembly had on several occasions raised concerns about the “instrumentalism” of the electoral cycle.
We are concerned about the frequent and early elections, he said.
Another concern is the role played by the president, who was not a candidate, but his name was used and had an overwhelming presence in the media, providing his party with “an undue advantage.”
This undermines fairness, he said.
He pointed to very serious problems and allegations about the election that must be addressed and investigated.
Reinhold Lopatka, an Austrian parliamentarian who serves as the special co-ordinator of the OSCE short-term observer mission in Serbia, said at a press conference said that though the election was technically well-administrated, there were “unjust conditions.”
Fundamental freedoms were generally respected, but it was mired by harsh rhetoric, bias in the media, pressure on public sector employees and misuse of public resources, he said.
Election day was marked by procedural problems, including breaches in secretary of the votes and numerous instances of group voting, he added.
Lopatka described an uneven playing field for contestants.
The populist Serbian Progressive party (SNS) has said it won the country’s snap parliamentary election, which has been marred by reports of significant irregularities.
Watch footage of government and opposition figures make their case.
Serbia's ruling party claims victory amid reports of vote-rigging – video report
