Background
Current City assembly was elected in 2014, after Dragan Đilas, mayor at that time, lost a no-confidence motion, and was replaced by a Temporary Council, led by Siniša Mali, then an independent endorsed by the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). After the election, the Assembly's composition was significantly changed, since Democratic party (DS) lost substantial number of seats, while SNS coalition obtained majority of them. This election marked an ending to 9-year rule of Democratic party in Belgrade.
Dragan Đilas is a Serbian politician and businessman who was the Mayor of Belgrade from 2008 to 2013.
Siniša Mali is a Serbian economist and politician. He serves as the Minister of Finance in the Government of Serbia since 29 May 2018.
The Serbian Progressive Party is a populist conservative political party in Serbia.
Siniša Mali was elected mayor by the City Assembly on 24 April 2014. During his term, Belgrade Waterfront project commenced, a large urban development project, though marked by a number of protests of local population. Key moment in Mali's term was demolition of a city block to make way for Belgrade Waterfront project. This caused massive demonstrations in the City, [1] and almost led to Mali's resignation from the post. However, backed by the then-prime minister Aleksandar Vučić, Mali kept his position, and will complete his term as Mayor, though it remains uncertain whether he will be a mayoral candidate in the upcoming elections. [2] [3]
Belgrade Waterfront, known in Serbian as Belgrade on Water, is an urban renewal development project headed by the Government of Serbia aimed at improving Belgrade's cityscape and economy by revitalizing the Sava amphitheater, a neglected stretch of land on the right bank of the Sava river, between the Belgrade Fair and Branko's bridge. It was started in 2014 with the reconstruction of the Belgrade Cooperative building, which was finished in June of the same year. It is the largest mixed use complex under construction in Europe, worth 3.5 billion dollars. It will have 6.000 apartments, seven hotels including W Hotel and St Regis, 2000 offices, largest shopping mall in South East Europe and other public buildings like libraries, kinder gardens and museums.
Aleksandar Vučić is a Serbian politician who has been the President of Serbia since 31 May 2017. After leaving the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party in 2008, he became one of the founders of the populist conservative Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and he has been the party's Chairman since 2012.
It is yet unclear how will the opposition parties organize themselves for the election, but pollsters conduct polls as if there is a relatively united opposition front against the ruling parties, with the exception of Šapić, who is the current head of Novi Beograd municipality, who stated that he is not interested in pre-election coalitions, and that he will compete alone. [4] Besides that, the ruling parties also didn't reveal whether they (SNS and SPS) will form an election coalition, or will they compete separately.
Aleksandar Šapić is a Serbian politician and former professional water polo player. Since 2012, he has served as the president of the New Belgrade municipality.
New Belgrade is a municipality of the city of Belgrade. It is the central business district in Serbia and one of the major ones in Southeast Europe. It was a planned municipality, built since 1948 in a previously uninhabited area on the left bank of the Sava river, opposite old Belgrade. In recent years, it has become the central business district of Belgrade and its fastest developing area, with many businesses moving to the new part of the city, due to more modern infrastructure and larger available space. With 212,104 inhabitants, it is the second most populous municipality of Serbia after Novi Sad.
The Socialist Party of Serbia is a political party in Serbia that identifies as a democratic socialist and social democratic party. The Socialist Party of Serbia was the direct descendant of the Communist Party of Serbia. Throughout its existence, the party has utilised some nationalist rhetoric and themes, and has therefore been labelled a Serbian nationalist party, although the SPS has never identified itself as such.
Dragan Đilas stated that he will enter the race for mayor of Belgrade, and gathered support from PSG, NS and other opposition organizations. At the same time, DS is not willing to support its former president yet, but the party remains open for that option after the election. DS agreed to form an electoral alliance with SDS, a party of DS' former president, Boris Tadić, who then called for restoration of the Democratic party. [5] DJB and Dveri also announced a coalition in the run for the City Assembly seats. [6]
The Social Democratic Party is a parliamentary political party in Serbia. The party was founded and is headed by Boris Tadić, who was previously president of the Democratic Party and the former President of Serbia. Between June and October 2014, the name of the party was the New Democratic Party.
Boris Tadić is a Serbian politician who served as President of Serbia from 2004 to 2012. He was elected to his first term on 27 June 2004, when Serbia was part of Serbia and Montenegro, and re-elected for a second term on 3 February 2008, this time as president of independent Serbia. He resigned on 5 April 2012 in order to trigger an early election. Prior to his presidency, Tadić served as the last Minister of Telecommunications of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and as the first Minister of Defence of Serbia and Montenegro. He is a psychologist by profession.
The Democratic Party is a social-democratic and social-liberal political party in Serbia. It is the major centre-left party in Serbia and is the fifth largest party in the National Assembly. The Democratic Party is a full member of the Socialist International, the Progressive Alliance, and is an associate member of the Party of European Socialists.
On the other hand, the citizen organization Ne da(vi)mo Beograd (sr), loosely translated as We Won't Let Belgrade D(r)own, that rose in 2015 from strong opposition of local population to controversial urban and architectural projects such as the Belgrade Waterfront, [7] [8] [9] decided to participate in the local elections as a citizen group. [10] This organization obtained support from similar civil groups in other European countries, notably from Barcelona's mayor, Ada Colau, followed by Yanis Varoufakis, and 'Zagreb je naš' movement from Croatia. [11]
Barcelona is a city in Spain. It is the capital and largest city of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within city limits, its urban area extends to numerous neighbouring municipalities within the Province of Barcelona and is home to around 4.8 million people, making it the sixth most populous urban area in the European Union after Paris, London, Madrid, the Ruhr area and Milan. It is one of the largest metropolises on the Mediterranean Sea, located on the coast between the mouths of the rivers Llobregat and Besòs, and bounded to the west by the Serra de Collserola mountain range, the tallest peak of which is 512 metres high.
Ada Colau Ballano is a Spanish activist and politician from Catalonia. On 13 June 2015 she was elected Mayor of Barcelona, the first woman to hold the office, as part of the citizen municipalist platform, Barcelona En Comú. Colau was one of the founding members and spokespeople of the Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca (PAH), which was set up in Barcelona in 2009 in response to the rise in evictions caused by unpaid mortgage loans and the collapse of the Spanish property market in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
Ioannis Georgiou "Yanis" Varoufakis is a Greek economist, academic and politician, who served as the Greek Minister of Finance from January to July 2015, when he resigned. Varoufakis was a Syriza member of the Hellenic Parliament (MP) for Athens B from January to September 2015.
City Electoral Commission granted observer licences to representatives from Crta, Građani na straži, CeSID and Yucom. Apart from them, party representatives also observe the elections, as well as representatives from the Electoral Commission. [12]
According to Serbian law, election silence begins at midnight, on 1 March, and will last until 4 March, when polls close. During this period, all campaigning is prohibited, in order to maintain a free voting environment. [13]
Aftermath
Clear victory for the ruling party — SNS, meant that this party will determine the City's future mayor. Party leader, and President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, stated that his party's cooperation in the City government with SPS will continue for another 4 years.
On the other hand, a once dominant party in Belgrade — DS, lost all its seats and won't be represented in the City Assembly for the first time since its inception. Its votes went largely to Đilas and Šapić, both of them former members of the party.
Nationalist parties and movements, such as SRS and Dveri were also heavily defeated in this election.
