Will the opposition leave the Assembly: When they will decide on it is known

(Patria) - Leader of the "Kreni-promeni" movement Savo Manojlović stated on June 4 that due to obvious manipulation of votes and voter records in Belgrade and Niš, he is issuing a demand that opposition parties from these cities, as well as from the republican assembly, leave the parliament if the manipulation of the electoral will continues.

"Tomorrow (Wednesday, June 5) at 10 AM, we should have a clear decision on whether we have a completely delegitimized government, so that we can enter into complete civil disobedience on Saturday. We don't have time to go for walks for two months and individual protests," Manojlović told a press conference in front of the Municipality of New Belgrade.

He specified that the call to leave the parliament applies to the City of Belgrade, Niš, the Municipality of New Belgrade, as well as the republican parliament, because, as he pointed out, the essence of government legitimization is the republican parliament.

"When you don't have an opposition in parliament, you have a dictatorship," said Manojlović.

He stated that this unites both the options that said that one should not participate in the Belgrade and local elections, as well as those that did participate, also noting that he has a precise plan on how civil disobedience will be organized.

President of the Democratic Party (DS) Zoran Lutovac commented on the call of the Kreni-Promeni leader, stating that the DS proposed returning all mandates immediately after the December 2023 elections.

In a statement to Beta, he reiterated that the readiness to give up mandates to defend the electoral will is not a dilemma for him.

"The Democratic Party proposed this immediately after the December elections as a form of pressure to annul the stolen elections at all levels. As you could see, we remained alone in this," said Lutovac.

The Party Zajedno announced on June 4 that it does not recognize the election results because "elections must be free or they should not be held" and called on opposition parties to leave the republican parliament and all local assemblies and to engage in "general civil resistance".

The statement reads that this party did not recognize the results of the December elections either.

The Kreni-Promeni list won 21 mandates in the elections on June 2 in Belgrade and represents the strongest opposition group in the capital.

The Serbian Progressive Party, in a broad coalition including, among others, the Socialist Party of Serbia, the Serbian Radical Party, Zavetnici, and the Movement of Socialists, won 64 mandates and can independently form the city government.

The opposition claims to have a majority in the Municipality of New Belgrade, the largest city municipality. On the other hand, the SNS claims to have a majority there as well.

The authorities declared a narrow victory in Niš, the third-largest city in the country. The City Election Commission announced on June 3 that the SNS-led list received 30 mandates, as did four opposition lists, while the minority Russian Party received one mandate. On the same day, the Niš SNS announced that it had formed a coalition with the Russian Party and would form the government.

The Niš opposition expressed doubts about the final results declared by the GIK.

Head of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Observation Mission Lamberto Zannier assessed that slight progress was made in the run-up to the June local elections compared to the elections at the end of 2023, but added that key problems such as unequal electoral conditions, biased media reporting, voter pressure, and vote-buying remained.

The Crta Observation Mission filed eight criminal complaints on election day due to electoral machinations, mainly vote-buying.

Program Director of this non-governmental organization, Raša Nedeljkov, stated on June 3 that the elections in Belgrade "cannot be considered free and fair" and that the elections ended "devastatingly for the rule of law".