BELGRADE:
Thousands gathered in central Belgrade in an anti-government demonstration on Sunday to demand the annulment of parliamentary and local elections a week ago, which international observers said were unfair.
The populist ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) won 46.72 percent of the vote in early parliamentary elections last weekend, according to preliminary results from the state election commission.
An international monitoring mission on Monday said SNS gained an unfair advantage through media bias, undue influence of President Aleksandar Vucic and electoral irregularities such as vote buying.
Vucic said the election was fair.
On Sunday, police fired pepper spray, a Reuters witness said, after a crowd tried to storm Belgrade’s town hall, where the local election commission is based. Some of the protesters climbed the building and broke windows. Some threw stones at the windows, breaking glass.
“Vucic a thief,” shouted the protesters.
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In a statement, the interior ministry called on protesters to “refrain from trespassing on the town hall”.
“By reacting calmly we are trying not to hurt the protesters,” Vucic said in his early evening speech.
The center-left opposition alliance Serbia Against Violence came second in the election with 23.56% of the vote and the Socialist Party of Serbia came third with 6.56%.
Srdjan Milivojevic and Vladimir Obradovic of the coalition Serbia Against Violence tried to open the door of the town hall but were unable to get in as the crowd chanted “enter, enter” and “no surrender”.
Around 10 p.m. (21:00 GMT) riot police pushed protesters away from city hall.
Another member of Serbia Against Violence, Marinika Tepic, has gone on hunger strike since the election to demand its annulment.
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