Election boycott in Serbia

The "Proglas" (Declaration) civic initiative joined the protests that have been ongoing for 12 days following allegations by the "Serbia Against Violence" opposition coalition that "irregularities" occurred during the December 17 elections.

THOUSANDS REBEL

Responding to the call from the "Proglas" initiative, thousands gathered in the capital, chanting "We do not accept it" and demanding the cancellation of the elections.

Opposition officials also attended the protest, which local media described as a "sea of people in Belgrade."

Addressing the crowd, key opposition figure Marinika Tepic, who has been on a hunger strike for 13 days, said, "I have said everything that needed to be said. These elections must be canceled." It was noted that Tepic had to be helped onto the stage by two people and was taken to the hospital following her speech.

The demonstrators later marched to the Constitutional Court building, where they concluded their protest.

Meanwhile, a 24-hour road blockade initiated by a group of university students who set up tents on one of the main roads in Belgrade yesterday afternoon ended with the arrival of the protesters.

The protesters applauded the students who had spent the night outside.

OPPOSITION OBJECTIONS REJECTED

The opposition claims that hundreds of people were brought to Belgrade by bus from the Republika Srpska (RS), one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to vote on Sunday, December 17, and they are demanding the cancellation of the election to rectify this irregularity.

The Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) announced that the objections filed by the "Serbia Against Violence" coalition regarding the election have been rejected.

RIK Deputy Chairman Marko Jankovic, pointing to the grounds for the objections, stated, "The objections mainly addressed issues such as double registration, vote-buying, inequality in election campaigns, and irregularities in the receipt of election materials. However, no irregularities were found at the polling stations where the objections were filed."

ELECTIONS REPEATED IN MORE THAN 30 POLLING STATIONS

Meanwhile, in accordance with the RIK's decision, voting is being repeated today in more than 30 polling stations between 07:00 and 20:00 local time.

Three of the polling stations where 19,543 registered voters are casting their ballots again are located in the districts of the capital, Belgrade. The RIK also announced that voting will be repeated in 8 more polling stations on January 2.

Reports in the national media state that, considering more than 8,000 polling stations were opened in the elections where over 6.5 million registered voters cast their ballots, the results in the locations where the election is being repeated will not change the overall picture.

According to the unofficial results announced by the RIK, the "Aleksandar Vucic-Serbia Must Not Stop" coalition, led by the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) which is supported by President Aleksandar Vucic and has been in power since 2012, finished the election in the lead with 46 percent of the vote. The "Serbia Against Violence" coalition placed second with 23 percent of the vote.