Serbia’s National Assembly held its first session on Tuesday despite allegations by the opposition that parliamentary and municipal elections held in December were marred by numerous irregularities.
The country got a new parliament after the mandates of all 250 deputies were approved at the constituent session. However, opposition members marched in front of the podium with banners and whistles in protest and then left the parliamentary chamber.
Borko Stefanović from Serbia Against Violence stated that Serbs had witnessed an “illegal and illegitimate situation.”
“This parliament was built on election fraud. This represented the ruling party’s defence of their election theft behind police cordons and the Praetorian Guard. I think citizens could see that this is neither a normal parliament nor is it founded on the will of the people of Serbia, but on election fraud.”
The European Parliament has called on legal experts and institutions to conduct an independent international investigation into irregularities in Serbian parliamentary, provincial and local elections. A vote on the issue is scheduled for February 8.
Supporters of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party hung a large banner condemning the opposition. Opposition MPs refused to take the oath of office together with ruling party MPs doing so in front of the main hall.
I think the citizens could see that this is neither a normal parliament, nor was it built on the will of the citizens of Serbia, but on the theft of elections.
The ruling party won 129 seats in the 250-seat assembly in the December 17 vote. The opposition coalition Serbia Against Violence came second with 65 seats.
Aleksandar Vučić, in power since 2012, has rejected criticism from opponents that his government restricts democratic freedoms while allowing corruption and organised crime to flourish. Under Vučić, Serbia appears a candidate for EU membership, but the opposition accuses the bloc of turning a blind eye to the country’s democratic shortcomings in exchange for stability in a Balkan region still turbulent after the wars of the 1990s.
Serbia Against Violence includes the parties responsible for months of street protests in May last year.
