More than 1,000 people protested in Belgrade on Saturday against alleged electoral "fraud" at polls last weekend, at a rally organised by Serbia's main opposition parties.
The protest held in front of the Electoral Commission in downtown Belgrade came after the latest results showed a far-right coalition has been excluded from parliament after narrowly missing the five percent threshold needed for seats in final results.
Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic's party easily won re-election, but the far-right Dveri-DSS coalition has been shut out after achieving the threshold in earlier results.
"We will not allow the authorities to steal our votes," Bosko Obradovic, the head of the Dveri party, part of the Dveri-DSS coalition, told the crowd.
He urged Vucic to "acknowledge the election results".
With 99.45 percent of ballots counted, Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) has won nearly 50 percent of the vote, giving it at least 138 seats in the 250-member parliament.
But the Dveri-DSS coalition, which according to earlier results had cleared the threshold needed for parliamentary representation, has now been now excluded from the assembly.
Later results put the coalition on 4.99 percent of the vote, just under the threshold, meaning Vucic's SNS will benefit with more seats.
The hour-long rally, which passed off peacefully, was attended by leaders of the main Serbian opposition parties apart from ultra-nationalist Vojislav Seselj, whose Radicals came third in the election.
The protesters carried banners reading "Don't play with my vote" and chanted "Vucic thief, you stole the election".
Aleksandra Jerotic joined the protest although she did not vote for the far-right coalition.
"Theft should not be allowed ... this is unacceptable," the 50-year-old lawyer told AFP.
Both Vucic and opposition groups have disputed the fairness of Sunday's general election.
The opposition claimed having evidence of "huge irregularities and serious electoral fraud." But Vucic accused them of pressuring the electoral commission in order to make it past the five percent vote threshold.
The electoral commission has asked up to 16,500 voters at 15 polling stations to recast their ballots.
The commission said Thursday it was continuing to review reports from the polling stations, although international observers said "fundamental freedoms" had been respected during the vote.
Vucic, 46, controversially called the election two years ahead of schedule, saying he needed a clear mandate to implement reforms needed for Serbia to join the European Union.
Political rivals, however, say he wants to oust smaller parties from parliament so their seats can be redistributed to other parties, boosting the power of the SNS.
More than 1,000 people protested in Belgrade on Saturday against alleged electoral “fraud” at polls last weekend, at a rally organised by Serbia’s main opposition parties.
The protest held in front of the Electoral Commission in downtown Belgrade came after the latest results showed a far-right coalition has been excluded from parliament after narrowly missing the five percent threshold needed for seats in final results.
Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic’s party easily won re-election, but the far-right Dveri-DSS coalition has been shut out after achieving the threshold in earlier results.
“We will not allow the authorities to steal our votes,” Bosko Obradovic, the head of the Dveri party, part of the Dveri-DSS coalition, told the crowd.
He urged Vucic to “acknowledge the election results”.
With 99.45 percent of ballots counted, Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) has won nearly 50 percent of the vote, giving it at least 138 seats in the 250-member parliament.
But the Dveri-DSS coalition, which according to earlier results had cleared the threshold needed for parliamentary representation, has now been now excluded from the assembly.
Later results put the coalition on 4.99 percent of the vote, just under the threshold, meaning Vucic’s SNS will benefit with more seats.
The hour-long rally, which passed off peacefully, was attended by leaders of the main Serbian opposition parties apart from ultra-nationalist Vojislav Seselj, whose Radicals came third in the election.
The protesters carried banners reading “Don’t play with my vote” and chanted “Vucic thief, you stole the election”.
Aleksandra Jerotic joined the protest although she did not vote for the far-right coalition.
“Theft should not be allowed … this is unacceptable,” the 50-year-old lawyer told AFP.
Both Vucic and opposition groups have disputed the fairness of Sunday’s general election.
The opposition claimed having evidence of “huge irregularities and serious electoral fraud.” But Vucic accused them of pressuring the electoral commission in order to make it past the five percent vote threshold.
The electoral commission has asked up to 16,500 voters at 15 polling stations to recast their ballots.
The commission said Thursday it was continuing to review reports from the polling stations, although international observers said “fundamental freedoms” had been respected during the vote.
Vucic, 46, controversially called the election two years ahead of schedule, saying he needed a clear mandate to implement reforms needed for Serbia to join the European Union.
Political rivals, however, say he wants to oust smaller parties from parliament so their seats can be redistributed to other parties, boosting the power of the SNS.
