FROM THE CORRESPONDENT IN BELGRADE. Thousands of people gathered in Serbia in front of the local parliament in the city of Belgrade, led by opposition leaders, to protest against the outcome of local elections in the capital. The “Serbia against violence” coalition, created to counter the government of Aleksandra Vucic, denounces 450 irregularities in the capital's vote and that 40 thousand people were brought by bus from Bosnia to support the president's party. “Thieves, thieves”, “Vucic at home” were the slogans repeated several times in chorus by the large mass of people of all ages who met to accompany Vladimir Obradovic, Miroslav Aleksic and Marinika Tepić in a procession in front of the Election Commission (Rik) and ask for the annulment of the elections in Belgrade.
An international observer mission, which includes representatives of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, also reported irregularities in the vote. The report says the election campaign “was marked by harsh rhetoric, bias in the media, pressure on public sector employees and abuse of public resources.”
International observers pointed to a number of problems encountered at polling stations. «Instances of serious irregularities were observed, including vote buying and ballot box stuffing. The measures to ensure the secrecy of the vote were insufficient,” they said.
While at a national level Vucic's SNS obtained an absolute majority and strengthened, the opposition was convinced that it had conquered Belgrade. The projections, however, showed that SNS gained 39%, while “Serbia against violence” was behind with 34%.
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