Serbia MPs Duel Over Danger of Election Fraud

Opposition and ruling party MPs clashed in Serbia's parliament on Tuesday about potential wrongdoings in the forthcoming parliamentary elections broadly scheduled for late April.

Zoran Zivkovic, president of the opposition New Party, said that his party, like most citizens in Serbia, feared electoral fraud.

"We thought the period of election frauds ended on October 2000 [with the fall of Slobodan Milosevic] but election theft was already registered in the local elections? and new symptoms of the same disease are obvious," Zivkovic said.

Zivkovic added that the New Party has formed a "Centre for the prevention of theft and violence in the elections".

However, Milovan Drecun, a deputy for the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, said the opposition was just seeking an alibi for their inevitable bad election results.

"Those who do not believe in their own forces, in the support of citizens, have now found an excuse in claims that the elections will not be fair," Drecun said.

Aleksandra Jerkov, deputy for the opposition Democratic Party, DS, said that her party was preparing for vigilant monitoring of the elections.

"Our electoral committees will be particularly vigilant and we will also if necessary submit complaints, objections and everything else available," Jerkov said.

Opposition parties complained last year about a growing number of incidents of intimidation of their politicians and activists, claiming it was creating an atmosphere of fear that was aimed at neutralising dissent.

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic on January 17 said Serbia would hold early parliamentary and local elections this spring - in a move that opinion polls suggest will strengthen his party's grip on power.