The imposition of a strict lockdown against the background of an inactive parliament was swiftly regarded as an authoritarian turn by the opposition. The main anti-SNS coalition, Savez za Srbiju/Alliance for Serbia, and its leader, Dragan Đilas, rushed to interpret the temporary limitation of civic freedoms, in light of the Covid-19 crisis, as ‘the final phase before the establishment of a dictatorship’.
Meanwhile, smaller opposition parties with a vibrant grass-roots component (e.g. the Movement of Free Citizens/PSG led by actor Sergej Trifunović) issued calls for civil disobedience under the banner of ’Buka protiv diktature’ (‘Noise against the dictatorship’). The latter consisted in public manifestations by quarantined citizens, at pre-arranged times, across Serbia and comprised all sorts of noise ranging from loud music all the way to repeatedly banging kitchen utensils.
Serbia’s parliamentary elections of June 21, 2020: actors and developments
The disdain of the opposition and domestic as well as international criticism over the consolidation of an authoritarian turn did not restrain the government from officially proclaiming the first elections after the Covid-19 crisis in Europe.
Despite conflicting evidence, SNS policymakers saw a good opportunity to burnish their image following their allegedly successful management of the Covid-19 emergency and the upgrading of Serbia’s relations with key global partners such as China. At the other end of the spectrum, Savez za Srbiju called for a public boycott of the procedure. SNS won a landslide victory garnering 61.60% of the vote. The results of these elections hinted at the continuity of certain trends and political realities that are not necessarily or highly subject to the Covid-19 crisis and its impact.
Especially since 2016, SNS has succeeded in dominating a continuum that stretches from the boundaries of the liberal centre all the way to the conservative right. Especially in regard to the public sector and state-run institutions, the party has proved successful in setting up a countrywide network entrenched in political clientelism. This network was systematically activated and mobilized, prior to the recent elections, via means of SMSs and telephone calls to SNS’ voters. In addition, SNS has long anchored its status as the most popular option among electoral segments such as pensioners – an observation which is of remarkable importance in a rapidly ageing society.
By contrast, Savez za Srbiju have not yet succeeded in projecting themselves as a potent competitor and an alternative to SNS. The party’s leading figure, Dragan Đilas, and his circle of close associates from the Democratic Party/DS are still haunted by allegations of mismanagement and corruption from the last tenure of DS in government. Furthermore, in an attempt to mould and mobilize a wide range of public grievances vis-à-vis SNS, Savez za Srbiju currently host under their auspices political initiatives as diverse as (centrist liberal) DS, (right-wing nationalist) Dveri/Gates and (leftist) Levica Srbije/Serbian Left.
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Vassilis Petsinis | Radio Free (2020-06-24T13:02:15+00:00) Serbia: continuity elections amid Covid-19. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2020/06/24/serbia-continuity-elections-amid-covid-19/
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