There were irregularities in yesterday's elections in Serbia, including vote buying, and serious problems were observed in the campaign that preceded them, such as biased reporting in the media and the dominance of the president and the ruling party, representatives of international observation missions said today in Belgrade.
At the joint press conference, where they presented their findings on the extraordinary parliamentary elections in Serbia, the heads of the international observation missions stated that they had observed unequal treatment of political parties in the media and unequal conditions, with the dominance of the ruling party, which had a "systematic advantage.
Representatives of the missions, which had a total of 357 observers, stated that fundamental freedoms were generally respected, but that there was harsh rhetoric, media bias, pressure on public sector employees and abuse of public resources.
The head of the observation mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Albert Jonson said that the elections were technically well organized and that voters could choose between a lot of political options, but that the head of state was "too present in the media". and that "together with the ruling party, he created unfair conditions for the election participants".
"The campaign was dominated by President Aleksandar Vučić, there was aggressive and incendiary rhetoric, polarization, personal discrediting. Freedom of expression and assembly was mostly respected during the campaign, but the pressures on the public sector and the collection of votes in the public sector meant that it could not be free choice," Jonson said.
He stated that the "great influence of the government on almost all media" was observed and that the opposition pointed out that it did not have access to many media, especially before the elections, adding that "they received several reports that journalists with a critical attitude are often the target of attacks by politicians and pro-government media".
Jonson said that the election day "went mostly well", but that there were irregularities, related to the existence of deceased persons on the electoral rolls and the arrival of voters from other countries to vote.
Asked if the observed irregularities were serious enough to invalidate the vote, Jonson said they were "not in a position to talk about the effects of such a practice".
"We are not in a position to talk about the annulment of the vote, that is not part of our mandate. But we talked about these things in our recommendations, they relate to the effective management of the election process. We remain in contact with the Serbian authorities and will follow up on everything related to those recommendations." , Jonson said.
The head of the delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Stefan Šenach said that the organization has expressed several times its concern about "the culture of early elections and the instrumentalization of electoral cycles", stating that it "undermines the trust of public opinion in democratic institutions and the electoral process, which is a component setbacks in democracy".
"We are concerned about the frequent and extraordinary elections that prevent democratic institutions from functioning properly and producing results," Senah said.
He stated that one of the concerns was the "key role in the campaign of the president of the state who was not a candidate".
"He was treated in a commendable, biased way in the media, which gave his party an advantage. This seriously undermines fair conditions in the electoral competition, because the president should be a neutral figure who reflects national unity," said Senah.
Senah said that biased reporting in the media, unfair election conditions and alleged vote manipulation are "very serious problems that the institutions must address".
The head of the European Parliament delegation, Klemen Grošelj, said they noticed "worrying elements" in the campaign, such as "low level of political debate, pressure on voters, personal discrediting of opponents and harsh rhetoric", including against journalists and representatives of civil society.
Grošelj said that the observers received several reports about the mass registration of voters from outside Serbia, who voted in Belgrade, and added that they call on the authorities to investigate it thoroughly and to implement the recommendations they presented. Special coordinator of the observation mission of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Reinhold Lopatka, said that the elections were technically well organized, but he pointed out that it was disputed that they took place in a socially and politically polarized environment.
"There was harsh rhetoric in the campaign, political options did not receive equal treatment in the media and there was misuse of public funds. Most broadcasters with a national frequency reduced the possibility of actually informing voters by their way of working," said Lopatka.
He stated that a certain number of procedural problems were observed on election day, including violations of the secrecy of voting.
The head of the delegation of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Fara Karimi, said that the holding of the third parliamentary elections in less than four years "undermined public trust in democratic institutions".
"During the elections, we observed several irregularities, including non-compliance with the procedure for keeping materials, group voting, violating the secrecy of the vote. We saw serious irregularities such as vote buying," Karimi said.
She said that they expressed concern regarding the preservation of freedom of speech and the attitude towards human rights fighters and journalists who, she stated, faced threats and warnings.
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