2012 Serbian parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Serbia on 6 May 2012 to elect members of the National Assembly. The elections were held simultaneously with provincial, local, and presidential elections.[1][2]

2012 Serbian parliamentary election
Serbia
6 May 2012

All 250 seats in the National Assembly
126 seats needed for a majority
Turnout57.76% (Decrease 3.57 pp)
PartyLeader % Seats +/–
SNS coalition Tomislav Nikolić 25.16 73 +43
IZBŽ Boris Tadić 23.09 67 -3
SPSPUPSJS Ivica Dačić 15.18 44 +24
DSS Vojislav Koštunica 7.32 21 0
U-Turn Čedomir Jovanović 6.83 19 +2
URS Mlađan Dinkić 5.77 16 -8
Minority lists
VMSZ István Pásztor 1.83 5 +1
SDAS Sulejman Ugljanin 0.74 2 +1
SZ Emir Elfić 0.67 1 +1
NOPO Nikola Tulimirović 0.61 1 New
KSLP Riza Halimi 0.36 1 0
Results by municipality
  PS   IZBŽ   SPSPUPSJS   DSS   URS   VMSZ   SDA S   KSLP
Prime Minister before Prime Minister after
Mirko Cvetković
Independent
Ivica Dačić
SPS

Background

The 2008 parliamentary elections resulted in the formation of a new pro-European government on 7 July 2008, with the necessary parliamentary votes coming from President Boris Tadić's For a European Serbia list, and the coalition of the Socialist Party of Serbia, the Party of United Pensioners of Serbia and United Serbia (the SPS-PUPS-JS coalition), plus six out of the seven minorities representatives. The new government elected Mirko Cvetković (endorsed by the Democratic Party) as Prime Minister.

The opposition, the Serbian Radical Party (SRS), had a split after the elections. The Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) party broke off and is headed by Tomislav Nikolić and Aleksandar Vučić, both of whom were major figures in the SRS before the establishment of the SNS in late 2008. In most opinion polls they and Democratic Party (DS) remain the two most popular parties, in combination gaining at least 60 percent of the total vote when combined. Other parties remain far behind, struggling to even attain double digit popularity figures.[3]

In early 2011, according to the Democratic Party's strategic marketing polls, the opposition SNS had higher ratings than the next three most popular parties combined.[4] The opposition attempted to promote early elections to take place in 2011. Major opposition rallies in February 2011 focused on the cited difficult socioeconomic conditions as well as widespread corruption.[5][6] The protesters' goal was to hold the elections earlier, in the Fall of 2011.[7] The protests did not succeed in affecting the date of the elections, which are to be held on 6 May 2012.[2] At least 50,000 to 70,000 attended the peaceful protests held on streets of Belgrade organised by SNS, the strongest among the country's opposition bloc.[6]

In fall 2011, posters and billboards endorsing various parties peppered Belgrade.[8] The election campaigns of many parties are well under way, despite the election date having been set for the first half of 2012.[8]

Electoral lists

There were 18 registered electoral lists for the 2012 parliamentary elections:[9]

# Ballot name Ballot carrier Main ideology Political position Note
1
Dragan Đilas Social liberalism Centre to
centre-left
2
  • Serbian Radical Party – Dr Vojislav Šešelj[11]
  • SRS
Vojislav Šešelj Ultranationalism Far-right
3
Mlađan Dinkić Liberal conservatism Centre-right
4
Čedomir Jovanović Liberalism Centre
5
Tomislav Nikolić Populism Big tent
6
  • Democratic Party of Serbia – Vojislav Koštunica[14]
  • DSS
Vojislav Koštunica National conservatism Right-wing
7
  • Ivica Dačić – Socialist Party of Serbia – Party of United Pensioners of Serbia – United Serbia[15]
  • SPS, PUPS, JS, PSV
Ivica Dačić Populism Big tent
8
Branimir Nešić Christian right Far-right
9
Bálint Pásztor Minority politics Centre-right
M
10
Aleksandar Višnjić Reformism Centre
11
Ifeta Radončić Minority politics Right-wing
M
12
  • Movement of Workers and Peasants[20]
  • PRS
Zoran Dragišić Labourism Left-wing
13
  • Social Democratic Alliance – Nebojša Leković[21]
  • SDS
Nebojša Leković Social democracy Centre-left
14
Emir Elfić Minority politics
M
15
Riza Halimi Minority politics
M
16
  • Montenegrin Party – Nenad Stevović[24]
  • CP
Nenad Stevović Minority politics
M
17
  • Communist Party – Josip Broz[25]
  • KP
Joška Broz Titoism Far-left
18
  • None of the Above[25]
  • NOPO
Nikola Tulimirović Direct democracy Centre

M — national minority list - the minimum threshold for these lists is 0.4% of the vote, compared to 5% for the others.

Opinion polls

Conduct

The Center for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID) was amongst the electoral observers.[26] CeSID was also an election monitor.[27]

Results

About 6.7 million people were eligible to vote in the elections. The OSCE undertook the organisation of voting for the roughly 109,000 Serb voters in Kosovo.[28] Voting stations were open from 7:00 to 20:00[29] with no incidents reported across the country. Voter turnout by 18:00 was 46.34% in Belgrade, 48.37% in central Serbia and 47.89% in Vojvodina.[30] Voter turnout in Kosovo was 32%.[27]

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Let's Get Serbia Moving[lower-alpha 1]940,65925.1673+43
Choice for a Better Life[lower-alpha 2]863,29423.0967–3
SPS coalition[lower-alpha 3]567,68915.1844+24
Democratic Party of Serbia273,5327.32210
U-Turn[lower-alpha 4]255,5466.8319+2
United Regions of Serbia215,6665.7716–8
Serbian Radical Party180,5584.830–77
Dveri for the Life of Serbia169,5904.540New
Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians68,3231.835+1
Movement of Workers and Peasants57,1991.530New
Communist Party28,9770.770New
Party of Democratic Action of Sandžak27,7080.742+1
All Together[lower-alpha 5]24,9930.671+1
None of the Above22,9050.611New
Social Democratic Alliance16,5720.440New
Albanian Coalition of Preševo Valley[lower-alpha 6]13,3840.3610
Reformist Party8,8670.2400
Montenegrin Party3,8550.1000
Total3,739,317100.002500
Valid votes3,739,31795.63
Invalid/blank votes170,9954.37
Total votes3,910,312100.00
Registered voters/turnout6,770,01357.76
Source: Republican Electoral Commission

Involvement of the United States

In April 2012, Rudy Giuliani lobbied for Aleksandar Vučić in his candidacy for mayor of Belgrade.[31] The US Embassy to Serbia released a statement saying that Giuliani's appearance did not represent the United States endorsing any candidate in Serbia's parliamentary upcoming election.[32] Dragan Đilas, the incumbent mayor, responded to Giuliani's appearance, saying "Giuliani should not speak about Belgrade's future as a man who supported the bombing of Serbia."[33]

On 3 July 2012, the United States' Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Philip Reeker, conducted undisclosed discussions with Mlađan Dinkić of the URS party in his first day there.[34] When a journalist from B92 asked him what his mission in Serbia was, he replied that he was visiting "because Belgrade is a beautiful city".[34] Subsequently, URS joined the ruling coalition in the Serbian parliament.[35] At the time, Blic published a series of stories from anonymous diplomatic sources, correctly predicting a coalition with URS and SNS, asserting that Reeker's meetings in Belgrade were intended to ensure that the new ruling coalition involve parties which guarantee the continuation of the Belgrade–Pristina negotiations.[36] Additionally, Blic reported that Vučić was against SPS members leading both the BIA and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and asserted that the United States was in agreement with Vučić in disapproval of SPS controlling both state agencies.[37]

References

  1. "National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia | National Assembly activities". Parlament.gov.rs. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  2. "Report: Elections to be held in spring 2012". Večernje novosti. 29 June 2011. Archived from the original on 14 April 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  3. "Five parties competing for 'bronze'". Blic. 27 July 2011. Archived from the original on 6 August 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  4. "Rally to last until elections are called". B92. Fonet. 8 April 2011. Archived from the original on 13 April 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  5. "Serbia holds biggest opposition protest in years". Reuters. 5 February 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  6. "Serbian opposition rally calls for early elections". Deutsche Welle. 5 February 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  7. "Serbia's pro-West government hit by protests". CBC News. Associated Press. 5 February 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  8. "Parties jockey for support well ahead of Serbia's elections". Southeast European Times. 9 August 2011. Archived from the original on 17 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  9. "RIK: Proglašeno 18 izbornih lista". B92. 24 April 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  10. "Potvrđena lista DS". B92. 19 March 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  11. "RIK proglasio tri izborne liste". B92. 19 March 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  12. "Info - LDP, SPO agree on pre-election coalition". B92. Archived from the original on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  13. "Proglašena izborna lista SNS". B92. 20 March 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  14. "Proglašena lista DSS". B92. 21 March 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  15. "Konvencija SPS, PUPS, JS, SDPS u Kačarevu | Lokal | Vesti". Rtvpancevo.rs. 3 May 2012. Archived from the original on 10 May 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  16. "RIK proglasio izbornu listu Dveri". B92. 28 March 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  17. "RIK proglasila izbornu listu SVM". B92. 29 March 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  18. "RIK proglasio 10. listu". B92.net. 4 April 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  19. "Proglašena lista SDA". B92. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  20. "RIK: Lista Pokret radnika i seljaka". B92. 13 April 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  21. "RIK proglasio izbornu listu SDS". B92. 18 April 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  22. "Proglašena 14. lista za parlamentarne izbore "Sve zajedno"". Telegraf. 20 April 2012.
  23. "RIK: Koalicija Albanaca 15. lista". B92. 22 April 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  24. 15. Crnogorska partija - Nenad Stevović
  25. "Još dve liste pred ponoć". B92. 21 April 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  26. Fairclough, Gordon. "Serbia Run-Off Will Pit EU Supporter Against Nationalist - WSJ.com". Online.wsj.com. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  27. Filipovic, Gordana. "Serb Progressive Party Wins Vote, Electoral Commission Says". Bloomberg. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  28. "Polls close in Serbia's general election - Europe". Al Jazeera English. 4 October 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  29. "Info - Polling stations close across Serbia". B92. Archived from the original on 9 May 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  30. Barlovac, Bojana. "Voting Finishes Without Incidents in Serbia". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  31. Fairclough, Gordon (20 April 2012). "Giuliani Wades into World of Messy Balkan Politics". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  32. "Ambasada SAD: Poseta Đulijanija ne znači podršku SAD" (in Serbian). Radio Free Europe. 20 April 2012.
  33. "Belgrade mayor accuses Giuliani of "supporting bombing"". B92. 20 April 2012. Archived from the original (via Wayback Machine) on 20 May 2014.
  34. "Филип Рикер: У Србију сам дошао јер је Београд сјајан град". Nova srpska politička misao (in Serbian). 3 July 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  35. "Sporazum koalicija SNS-a, SPS-a i URS-a" (in Serbian). Politika. 10 July 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  36. Jakov Leon, Dijana Roščić (7 July 2012). "URS će u novoj vladi imati tri člana". Deutsche Welle (in Serbian). Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  37. "SAD ne žele da BIA i MUP drži ista partija". Blic (in Serbian). 4 July 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
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