Citizens of the Serbian town of Kosjeric came out in record numbers on Sunday to vote in a high-stakes town council election viewed as a test of critical importance to the government in Belgrade. The election comes after months of demonstrations led by students outraged by a fatal infrastructure failure in November.
Protests started after the roof of a newly restored train station in Novi Sad collapsed, killing 16 people. The accident, which was generally blamed on corruption and government negligence, enflamed outrage among the public and student groups nationwide. Protests have since put President Aleksandar Vucic and his nationalist Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) under immense pressure.
By 6:00 pm local time (1600 GMT), turnout had already passed 76 percent, said Sandra Filipovic, director of the local electoral commission. “There are still two hours left, and turnout could rise even higher,” she said in an interview with reporters. The 2021 municipal elections had registered 73 percent voter turnout.
The SNS is threatened with a robust challenge from an independent coalition of candidates, with most of them being politics newcomers or opposition members contesting as non-party affiliates. The coalition is regarded as a pilot model for other national elections in the future, if the protests momentum persists.
The student-led rebellion has already caused mainstream political turmoil, such as the resignation of the prime minister and the collapse of the old government. Parliament in April installed Djuro Macut a doctor with no political background as new prime minister in a bid to regain public trust.
President Vucic has brushed off the protests as foreign-sponsored meddling, terming them an “attempted coup” and hinting that early national elections might now be just around the corner.
With such strong voter turnout in Kosjeric, the result of this local election would echo throughout Serbia, establishing the tone for the future of Serbia’s politics.
