Elections in Novi Sad: No government or opposition party is boycotting the elections here

As for the ruling coalition, confirmation is still awaited in Novi Sad will on elections in that city SNS, SPS and Zavetnica will perform in a coalition.

On the other hand, the entire opposition announced participation in the elections. They also confirmed it SSPZajedno, Bravo, Movement of Free Citizens, People’s Movement of Serbia, Movement of the Heart, Green-Left Front, Ecological Uprising, Democratic Party, New DSS, LSVassociation “Be a Hero”but also movement “Go change” by Sava Manojlović. He will probably have his own list in this city Branimir Nestorovic with his movement “We, the power of the people”.

“The results are almost the same as in Belgrade”

Aleksandar Ivković, a researcher at the Center for Contemporary Politics, tells “Blic” that the elections in Novi Sad could be a real test of the relationship between the government and the opposition.

– In the parliamentary elections in December in Novi Sad, the voting results were almost the same as in Belgrade. Both in Novi Sad and Belgrade, the ruling coalition of SNS and SPS had about 43 percent of the votes, while “Serbia against violence” and the NADA coalition received around 40 percent. Movement in both cities Branimir Nestorović he had six or seven percent of the votes – recalls Ivković.

As he says, the political dynamics are very similar in both cities.

– The only difference is that Novi Sad has more parties of national minorities. In Novi Sad, 80 percent of the population is Serbian. That means it would parties of national minorities could play a decisive role and be of assistance to the authorities, because it is known that minorities most often enter into coalitions with ruling parties – Ivković assesses.

He adds that one should not lose sight of the fact that these are local elections.

– In local elections, turnout is almost always lower than in parliamentary elections. Lower turnout usually favors the authorities because they have more disciplined voters. On the other hand, the opposition will have to explain why the local elections are important and how close it is to winning – says Ivković.

In what formation will the opposition come out?

In light of the split in the “Serbia Against Violence” coalition in Belgrade it remains to be seen how many lists the opposition will make in Novi Sad, that is, who will enter into an alliance with whom.

Manojlovic has already disclosed that his movement will also appear independently in the capital of Vojvodina.

Ivković believes that a lot will depend on the “formation” of the opposition in the local elections.

– If the parties that made up “Serbia against violence” stay together in Novi Sad, I believe they will form a list with a different name. It is not excluded that the more conservative parties from “Serbia against violence” will form a list with the “Hope” coalition.River Island pro-European parties form their own coalition. I think that Savo Manojlović with his movement “Start to change” will also come out independently in Novi Sad – concludes Ivković.

Confused voters

Dejan Bursać, a political scientist, points out that the local elections in Novi Sad would be a litmus test of the relationship between the government and the opposition if it were “December 2023”.

– In December, at the parliamentary and provincial elections in Novi Sad, it became clear that the difference between SNS and the “Serbia against violence” list is very small, only 8,000 votes, which is the smallest difference in the last ten years. Then I would say they are the local elections in Novi Sad are an excellent opportunity for the opposition to make a real result – states for “Blic” Bursać.

However, as he says, the situation is different now.

– We had four months of indecision on the part of the opposition, playing with the idea of ​​a boycott, negative messages, it is not yet known in which formation the opposition will appear in Novi Sad, whether there will be one, two, three or four electoral lists. All this confuses and demotivates opposition voters. Even this idea that part of the opposition is boycotting the elections in Belgrade, and that the entire opposition is participating in the elections in Novi Sad, is equally demotivating for opposition voters. because the average voter cannot spare two hours a day to process all that information, to read portals, social networks and consider who said what from the opposition leaders – analyzes Bursać.

He adds that “one of the voters came up with the idea of ​​boycotting the elections and the worm of suspicion that the elections were irregular was introduced“.

– Because if they are irregular in Belgrade and are being boycotted, why would they be regular in Novi Sad? So I would still not say that the elections in Novi Sad are a litmus test of the relationship between the power of the government and the opposition, even though everyone goes to the polls because of all these other things, and that four months of indecision and playing around with the topic of boycott and boycott in Belgrade certainly continue to influence the attitude of opposition voters and generally on the voter’s decision whether to vote or not – concludes Bursać.