CRTA: Why is the session of the Assembly in Zaječar controversial

Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability (THE LINE) announced that yesterday's session of the Zaječar Municipal Assembly disputed because it was held with multiple violations of laws and procedures.

On the X network, this organization reminded that its observation mission assessed that the results of the local elections of June 8 did not reflect the will of the citizens. Namely, at 19 percent of polling stations, serious forms of irregularities were registered, including voting by persons without the right to vote.

"Because of this, our observer filed a constitutional complaint on August 4 and asked to prevent the confirmation of the disputed mandates. Today, she also filed an amendment to the constitutional complaint due to the further violation of the integrity of the election and the illegal confirmation of mandates, which was also confirmed by the decision of the High Court in Zaječar," states CRTA.

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- CRTA (@CRTArs) September 3, 2025

The organization points out that yesterday's session was problematic because it was convened by the President of the Assembly, whose mandate, according to the court's ruling, was not even verified.

"The law on local elections is clear: the constitutive session must be completed no later than 30 days after the publication of the decision on the allocation of mandates - which in Zaječar was August 11. That deadline has expired. There is not even an item on the agenda about the election of the President of the Assembly and the mayor, although their mandates are not legally valid either - because they were elected by the votes of councilors whose mandates were also not confirmed," CRTA points out.

Progressives against the court: Interrupted session of the Assembly of Zaječar

In recalling the constitutive session of August 6, CRTA states that there was a violation of procedures: councilors' mandates were confirmed without a valid report of the verification commission, and instead of a joint report, only a personal report of the presiding commission was submitted.

A special precedent, it is added, is the decision of the High Court of August 25, which annulled the decision on the confirmation of the mandate, following the appeal of the coalition "Change in which we believe". "Such a thing has never happened before," says CRTA.