Six opposition parties say they will stand in June elections

The parties were all members of the Serbia Against Violence (SPN) coalition which split over the issue of the June 2 elections at Friday’s meeting of their leaders.

Officials of the Green-Left Front, Ecological Uprising, People’s Movement Serbia, Democratic Party (DS), Movement of Free Citizens and New Face of Serbia told reporters in Parliament that they had no choice but to fight against the Serbian regime under the existing unfair conditions.

They said their slogan is I Choose to Fight.

The SPN rallied 9 members, three of which (the Party of Freedom and Justice (SSP), Serbia Center (SRCE) and Zajedno) told Friday’s coalition meeting that they are not prepared to stand in the June 2 elections in Belgrade.

Speaking to N1 earlier on Monday, SSP leader Dragan Djilas said he wouldn’t say anything bad about the people he used to cooperate with, indicating the break up of the coalition named after the protests against violence following two mass shootings early in 2023.

The June 2 elections in the Serbian capital were called by Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic despite opposition demands to hold all local elections on the same date and possibly postpone the vote for the autumn. Changes to election laws have been submitted to parliament to allow the local elections to be held on the same date across the country.