Elections without elections: How SNS and the Election Commission "won" everything in Vranje

At yesterday's elections for local communities in Vranjska Banja Social Media won all mandates - out of a total of 51 mandates, 51 belonged to that party, while in Crow won 325 out of 324 seats.

The President of the Executive Board of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) Darko Glišić emphasized that, although the Serbian Progressive Party won a dominant victory, there is no room for euphoria because, as he says, there is still room for progress.

However, all other political opponents in this city in the south of Serbia accuse the SNS of an illegal election process.

Part of the opposition is called for a boycott of these elections.

The councilor group "Hrabro za Vranje" claims that at the last minute the opposition members of the polling committees, i.e. controllers, were replaced and replaced by members from the ranks of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).

The SNS, however, changed its candidates according to the same criteria, but then new ones from the ranks of the SNS were appointed to all vacant positions.

Since early morning, during yesterday's election day, videos and allegations of election theft, illegal dismissal of opposition presidents and election committee members, and their replacement exclusively by representatives of the Serbian Progressive Party began to appear on social media.

Due to a large number of irregularities and, as they claim, violations of the electoral cycle before and during the regular elections for members of the Council of Local Communities, the opposition councilor group Hrabro za Vranje, which includes a representative of the Movement for Decentralization (PODES), will file complaints and criminal charges, and the international community will be informed of everything.

On BM 19, our fellow citizen Maja Ljubić reported to the police that her signature was forged.

Half an hour before the start of the election, the progressives removed the president of the Electoral Committee from this particular BM, so that they could carry out election theft without hindrance. pic.twitter.com/0Expcn7okV

— Slobodan Petrovic (@spetrovic1990) June 1, 2025

"Just a few hours before the opening of the polling stations, all the presidents, deputy presidents and members of the Electoral Committees in front of the councilor group 'Hrabro za Vranje' were relieved of their duties for the upcoming elections for members of the Council of Local Communities in Vranje. This decision was made by the Election Commission of the city of Vranje, which operates under the complete control of the Serbian Progressive Party. This procedure, which eliminated all opposition controllers from the polling stations just before the elections, grossly violated legal regulations and basic democratic rules. "In this way, the regime has opened the way to another election theft, making the election process meaningless and canceling the will of the citizens. The city of Vranje, like many other places in Serbia, remains hostage to party arbitrariness, legal violence and a deepening political crisis," they state in their statement.

After these elections in Vranje and in other places for local communities, the question arises, how did they come to the attention of the local public? There are over 4.000 of them throughout Serbia, and most of them have been converted into SNS branches.

Absolutely ILLEGAL elections for the Ministry of Health in Vranje are underway.

During the night, our controllers were replaced by controllers from SNS.

SNS steals elections before, during and after election day.

We need the UNITY of ABSOLUTELY ALL SOCIAL ACTORS if we want to defeat this regime. pic.twitter.com/qkwukPTS5a

— Slobodan Petrovic (@spetrovic1990) June 1, 2025

What are local communities?

As "Vreme" wrote, in a normal political situation, every normal person would ask themselves how the progressives could lose the elections for local communities when political parties were not allowed to participate in them.

Because local communities should be a form of direct citizen participation, dealing with real problems and interests of citizens, not party ideologies and demands. Logically, they should be a civil counterbalance to the party-established authorities in cities and municipalities.

The answer is: they can lose the elections, as they proudly announced the other day, overwhelmingly won the local communities in Babušnica and Bela Palanka, despite the fact that the parties do not participate in them.

Battle for symbols

Symbolism is important in politics.

The progressives rule by fear and the perception of untouchable omnipotence, which means power from the top of the state to the house council. If they were defeated in the local communities of Novi Sad by self-organized citizens, and very badly, the truncated pyramid of power would split even more.

The progressives' love for local communities has other dimensions: they have been turned into local party committees where party life takes place, while the premises of these institutions are hermetically sealed for citizens and their interests. What's the point of citizens asking about their own lives, I guess we and our investors know what's good for them.