If they run in the election, they overstep the boycott, otherwise, they have no chance of staying in power. In short, this could be the future scenario in the cities of Sabac and Paracin, the very few towns in Serbia where the opposition is in power.
Although the 1in5 million movement said it was aware that part of the Alliance for Serbia (SzS) was preparing for elections despite the decision to boycott them, they did not specify who it was. The public immediately began to speculate about the two cities, as they are the weakest link in the boycott plan.
The Democratic Party (DS) is in power in Paracin and the Together for Serbia party in Sabac. Both parties have announced a boycott of the upcoming elections. After more than 10 years, the DS would leave the city government without a fight, losing one of the few strongholds in Serbia.
Want to open a company in Serbia? Click here!
If Paracin mayor Sasa Paunovic, who is also a DS official, decided to run in the election, he would violate his party’s boycott decision. The same goes for the city of Sabac, led by Nebojsa Zelenovic and the Together for Serbia party, which supported the boycott and, like the DS, is a member of the opposition.
For this reason, many are convinced that the 1in5 million movement referred to them.
“The parties that have already declared the boycott did not hope that we would find out that they are preparing for local elections instead, so we urge them to suspend all preparations for the elections within seven days, otherwise we too will participate in the local elections”, the 1in5 million movement says.
Although, in the beginning, the movement urged Zoran Zivkovic’s People’s Party (Narodna Stranka) and the SMS, both signatories of the opposition’s Agreement with the People, to boycott the election, it seems that the general idea is slightly different – i.e. not to participate in the parliamentary elections, but to run for local elections.
(Blic, 22.01.2020)
This post is also available in: Italiano