European Forum

Local elections in Serbia bring together nationalist parties

As a result of the local elections in three municipalities in Serbia on 7 June, the main opposition parties have decided to join forces. The Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) led by former Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica and Serb Progressive Party (SNS) led by Tomislav Nikolić, former leader of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS), confirmed that the two parties had agreed to cooperate on both the local and state level after determining that they shared a number of principles. As a consequence, the ruling Democratic Party (DS) of President Boris Tadic and Prime Minister Mirko Cvetković seems to be left aside in these municipalities. Moreover, according to some observers the DS leadership is split down between the members of President Boris Tadić’s inner circle, who have long been seeking to establish a two-party system, and party officials with their own personal ambitions to advance in the state hierarchy. In vain, Tadić’s faction were keen to enter talks with SNS at the earliest possible opportunity and split power in the two Belgrade municipalities of Voždovac and Zemun.

Although the local elections were held in only three municipalities, the results are generally considered as an important indication how the political scene in the country looks like. In Voždovac Nikolić’s SNS got the most votes, 28.8%, while the pro-European coalition (DS, G17+ and SPO) got 28.3%, whilst Koštunica’s DSS got 12.3 %. In Zemun SNS got 34%, DS coalition 27.71%, SRS 10% and DSS 7%. As the biggest party SNS has ruled out a power share with DS and offered a cooperation to DSS and the SRS. As already argued, this resulted in cooperation between nationalist parties. Furthermore, according to Nikolić the SNS and DSS will cooperate to force early parliamentary elections and in a referendum on the country's NATO membership. The two parties said they would also cooperate to prevent the adoption of the draft Vojvodina statue, which both view as in violation of the constitution.

The increased political support for Nikolić’s party, and right wing parties in general, is worrying. After the presidential election, in which Nikolić lost from current President Tadić, Nikolić left the Serbian Radical Party which, to great satisfaction of the EU and pro-European forces in Serbia, resulted in a serious spilt on the right side of the political spectrum. However, the local elections in three municipalities have shown that Nikolić hardly lost any support in the country. Moreover, according to some observers the results of the local election are quite alarming as the pro-European forces weakened and the support for the nationalist parties increased. On the other hand, the results can be seen as a wake-up call for the pro-European ruling coalition. Finally it is worthwhile noting that one of the explanation for the lost of DS is the unpopularity of the DS mayor of Belgrade Dragan Đjilas, owner of one of the largest marketing agency in Serbia.

Source: B92, BIRN, SETimes, Blic and Politika