Thousands of followers of the opposition coalition ‘Serbia Against Violence’ (SPN) demonstrated this Sunday in Belgrade to demand a repeat of the general elections of December 17 due to allegations of vote manipulation.
The seventh protest in front of the headquarters of the Electoral Commission (RIK) over alleged electoral fraud in favor of the ruling SNS party, of Serbian populist president Aleksandar Vucic, was the largest so far.
Those gathered shouted slogans such as “thieves” and “we do not give victory” in Belgrade. The situation became tense when opposition leaders went after the initial march to the nearby City Hall building in an attempt to break in and address citizens from there as “election winners.”
According to live images from the regional news channel N1, the protesters broke the windows of the main door of the City Hall, inside which was a riot police unit, which fired tear gas outwards. “Open the doors,” they shouted at the City Hall guards, while others hurled insults at Vucic.
A week ago, Serbia held elections for the national Parliament, the Assembly of the Vojvodina region and municipal elections in 65 cities, including Belgrade, where the SNP expected victory and considers that it was “stolen” with manipulations. The SPN, the main opposition party, does not recognize the results of the elections and demands their annulment.
In recent days they organized protests to “defend the votes”, while several SPN militants are on hunger strike at the RIK headquarters. According to official results, the SNS won the parliamentary elections with 47% of the votes, double that of the opposition coalition SPN.
In the municipal elections in Belgrade, the SNS won with a narrow margin and the formation of a local government remains uncertain due to the lack of a clear majority, so Vucic left open the possibility of new elections in the capital.
The authorities reject the opposition’s accusations of alleged manipulations and assured that the institutions will investigate the complaints. Vucic today accused the SPN leaders of “brutal pressure on the institutions” with the aim of “modifying the electoral will.”
