Belgrade City Assembly to hold constitutive session

On the agenda is the election of a verification committee to verify the councilors’ terms of office, the election of the speaker, while the newly-elected assembly members will also vote for the city administration secretary and deputies.

The session was scheduled by the chair of the Belgrade interim city authority, Aleksandar Sapic, and will be presided by the oldest candidate for councilor.

The ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and its coalition partner, the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), hold 54 of the 110 seats on the Assembly, two short of a majority. The opposition Serbia Against Violence coalition has 43 seats, the NADA coalition, comprising the New Democratic Party of Serbia (NDSS) and the Movement for the Restoration of the Kingdom of Serbia (POKS), won 7 seats, and We the Voice of the People won 6.

There has been speculation that one of the minor parties that have seats could side with the SNS-SPS coalition to secure a majority. The SNS-SPS coalition has held power in the Serbian capital for the past decade.

The councilors have until March 3 to form the new city assembly, and if they fail to do so, new elections will be held.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Sunday said there is a majority in the Belgrade City Assembly, which is legal and partly legitimate. He said he will wait until March 2 and 3 to see if that majority will also be fully legitimate, and if not, new elections will be held.