The constitutive session of the Serbian Parliament, where the mandates of the new composition of deputies were confirmed, was marked by disruptions from the opposition.
Opposition deputies stood in front of the rostrum with banners reading “You stole the elections” and “Thieves return your mandates”.
The opposition list “Serbia against Violence” claims that the December elections were irregular, something the Government rejects.
Due to accusations of election theft, deputies from the “Serbia against Violence” list took their oath in the Parliament corridor and not in the chamber.
Before them, deputies from the right-wing “Hope” coalition, which consists of the New Democratic Party of Serbia and the Movement for the Restoration of the Serbian Monarchy, took their oath.
The constitutive session of the Serbian Parliament lasted about half an hour. During that time, only mandates were confirmed, and deputies took the oath. The chairman said they would be notified about the continuation of the session.
Serbia against Violence: Interruption of the session, a “victory” for the opposition
Member of the Serbia against Violence coalition, Radomir Lazović, assessed that the interruption of the constitutive session is a “victory” for the opposition.
A member of this list, Marinika Tepić, stated in the corridor of the Parliament that the police in the hall separated opposition deputies from majority government deputies.
During the following first session, which should not be held on the same day, deputies must elect the chairman and vice-chairmen of the Parliament, appoint the general secretary, select members of working bodies, as well as permanent members of parliamentary delegations to international institutions.
Miloš Vučević, a member of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), said in the Parliament hall that everyone can see the “true face” of all deputies.
Vučević, who is also the leader of the progressives, said that the institutions will work.
Who got the mandates?
In the extraordinary elections in December, mandates were won by 10 electoral lists, five of which are minorities.
The Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) with its coalition partners will have the majority in the Parliament.
Its electoral list, “Aleksandar Vučić – Serbia should not stop”, won 129 out of a total of 250 deputy mandates. 126 mandates are required to have a parliamentary majority.
The second in terms of the number of seats in the Parliament is the opposition coalition “Serbia against Violence”, with 65 mandates.
Then there is the electoral list “Ivica Dačić – Prime Minister of Serbia”, with 18 mandates, and the right-wing “Hope for Serbia” coalition, and the right-wing and pro-Russian list “We – The Voice of the People”, each with 13 deputies.
Among the minority parties, the Hungarian Party of Vojvodina won six mandates.
The electoral lists of Usame Zukorlić and the Democratic Party of Action will have two mandates each, while the Political Fight of Albanians continues, and the Russian Party, one mandate.
Performance of the youth: Masks for power
Several young people gathered in front of the Parliament to greet deputies and express their opinion on “election irregularities”.
They wore rabbit masks and held cabbage for sympathizers, saying the voter list is like cabbage.
The constitutive session of the Serbian Parliament was held two days before the scheduled vote on the resolution in the European Parliament on the elections in Serbia. The European Parliament, which had an observer mission in the Serbian elections, discussed these elections on January 17.
European Parliament resolutions are not binding.
The opposition coalition “Serbia against Violence” had requested that the constitutive session of the Serbian Parliament be held after February 8, when European Parliament deputies will announce the December elections in Serbia.
Reports from local and international monitoring organizations, including the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) mission, indicated electoral irregularities in the December 17 elections in Serbia. The ruling SNS and state leadership have dismissed these accusations.
On December 18, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) announced that the elections were accompanied by irregularities, misuse of public funds, media dominance by state president Aleksandar Vučić, negative campaigns, and fear-mongering.
