The Belgrade City Assembly election was a local election held on 17 December 2023 to elect members of the City Assembly of Belgrade. The election became a focal point by opposition parties to oust Aleksandar Šapić, the mayor of Belgrade, leading to polarised election campaigns accompanied by mass protests.
Despite the growing popularity of opposition parties in the previous election that took place in April 2022, the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) retained control of the Belgrade government with the support of a single independent councillor, who voted in favour of Šapić becoming mayor. Political friction continued as Šapić survived an unsuccessful attempt to remove him as mayor in October 2022, following the Belgrade school shooting and a mass murder near Mladenovac and Smederevo in May 2023. Anti-government protests were organised in Belgrade by opposition parties that lasted until November. In October, several opposition parties formed a joint coalition, named Serbia Against Violence (SPN). A new election was called, originally scheduled for 2026, after President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić announced in September 2023 that it could be held at an earlier date. In response to the announcement, Šapić tendered his resignation and he ceased being mayor on 30 October 2023. The elections were held concurrently with the parliamentary, Vojvodina provincial, and local elections in 64 cities and municipalities in Serbia.
Candidates, during their election campaigns, concentrated on issues such as anti-corruption, environmental measures, improving public transportation, and expanding Belgrade's water supply network. The City Electoral Commission proclaimed 14 electoral lists for the election. Monitoring and non-governmental organisations reported electoral fraud on election day. SNS and SPS lost its coalition majority in the Assembly, while from the opposition, SPN and the National Democratic Alternative won 43 and 7 seats, respectively. The 2023 election resulted in a hung parliament. In the aftermath, mass protests took place until 30 December. Due to the failure to constitute the City Assembly, a snap election was triggered, in which SNS re-gained its parliamentary majority and Šapić returned as mayor.
Background In the 2022 Belgrade City Assembly election, the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) won 48 seats, while the Socialist Party of Serbia–United Serbia coalition retained its 8 seats in the City Assembly. The election also saw the United for the Victory of Belgrade (UZPB) alliance winning 26 seats; the We Must alliance won 13 seats, while the National Democratic Alternative, Serbian Party Oathkeepers (SSZ), and Dveri also gained representation. Despite this, opposition parties won more votes than the government parties in the election; the Social Democratic Party– New Party coalition was short 0.14% of the popular vote to cross the 3% threshold. Shortly after the election, Dragan Đilas, the leader of the Party of Freedom and Justice (SSP), which was a part of the opposition UZPB alliance, met with Aleksandar Vučić, the president of Serbian Progressive Party, to discuss about the outcome of the election. This move received criticism from SSP's coalition partners, like the People's Party (Narodna) and Democratic Party (DS), which ultimately led to the dissolution of the UZPB.
After the negotiations on forming a local government, Vuk Stanić, a councillor-elect of the City Assembly, left the Movement for the Restoration of the Kingdom of Serbia, and voted in favour of Aleksandar Šapić of SNS becoming mayor in June 2022. Later in October 2022, the Ujedinjeni councillor group filed a proposal for the dismissal of Šapić, citing alleged illegal extension of his apartment at Bežanija. This proposal was also supported from Narodna, DS, Moramo, and Dveri, however it failed as only 44 members voiced their support of it. During this period, Marija Vukomirović and Stefan Jovanović, who were affiliated with SSZ, left the party, stating their disapproval of the party's leader, Milica Đurđević Stamenkovski. Stanić, Vukomirović, and Jovanović defected to SNS in February 2023.
2023 protests
In May 2023, the Belgrade school shooting and a mass murder near Mladenovac and Smederevo occurred. The government of Serbia responded by adopting stricter regulations on gun ownership and deploying 1,200 police officers to schools. However, its response was criticised, particularly due to the statement of Branko Ružić, the minister of education, who said that "a cancerous, pernicious influence of the Internet, video games, and so-called Western values, is evident" () in the shooting, and Ana Brnabić, the prime minister of Serbia, who said that the "system did not fail" () when responding to the claims that the government could have stopped the shootings.
Mass protests known as Serbia Against Violence began on 8 May in Belgrade. Tens of thousands attended the protests. Despite being organised by the SSP, DS, Narodna, Do not let Belgrade drown (NDB), and Together (Zajedno) opposition parties, no party signs were reported to be seen at the protests. In response to the Serbia Against Violence protests, Vučić held an SNS-organised gathering on 26 May in Belgrade. The protests ended in early November.
Electoral system Local elections in Belgrade are held under a proportional representation system. Eligible voters vote for electoral lists, on which the registered candidates are present. An electoral list could be submitted by a registered political party, a coalition of political parties, or a citizens' group. The number of valid signatures needed to be collected to take part in the election varies by the number of eligible voters in that municipality. At least 40% of candidates on electoral lists must be female. The electoral list is submitted by its chosen ballot representative, who does not have to be present on its electoral list. An electoral list could be declined, after which those who had submitted can fix the deficiencies in a span of 48 hours, or rejected, if the person is not authorised to nominate candidates. The name and date of the election, the names of the electoral lists and its ballot representatives, and information on how to vote are only present on the voting ballot.
The City of Belgrade Electoral Commission (GIK) and polling boards oversee the election. Seats are allocated with an electoral threshold of 3% of all votes cast, however, if no electoral list wins 3% of all votes cast, then all electoral lists that received votes can participate in the distribution of seats. The seats are distributed by electoral lists in proportion to the number of votes received, while the number of seats belonging to electoral lists is determined by applying the highest quotient system. The seats are distributed by dividing the total number of votes received by the electoral list participating in the distribution of seats by each number from one to the number of councillors the City Assembly has. The obtained quotients are classified by size so that the electoral list has as many mandates as it has its quotients among the highest quotients of all the electoral lists participating in the distribution. If two or more electoral lists receive the same quotients on the basis of which the seat is distributed, the electoral list that received the greater number of votes has priority. The seats in the City Assembly are awarded to the candidates to their order on the electoral list, starting with the first candidate from an electoral list. When the councillors of the City Assembly are sworn in, they, in turn, elect the mayor.
Any local election, whether it is a municipal or a City Assembly election, is called by the president of the National Assembly, who also has to announce its date. Eligible voters had to be a Serbian citizen, reside in Serbia, and be at least 18 years old. A voter could only vote in the municipality of their residence. An election silence begins two days before the scheduled election, meaning that no opinion polls, presentation of candidates and their programmes, or invitation to vote in the election can be published or take place.
Voter manipulation allegations Miroslav Aleksić, the president of the People's Movement of Serbia (NPS), alleged in October 2023 that between 300 and 500 citizens daily fictitiously changed their home address because of the elections in Belgrade, accusing the local government of being involved in the process. Ana Gođevac, a SSP councillor, also said that between 21 September and 24 October 2023, the number of registered voters in Vračar increased by 356 and that the same pattern was noticed in other municipalities of Belgrade. Nikola Jovanović, director of the Centre for Local Self-Management, reported in late October 2023 that the number of registered voters increased by 2,349 between July and October 2023, and by 9,590 since the 2022 Belgrade City Assembly election. Jovanović noted that the number of registered voters has significantly increased in the municipalities of Vračar, Zvezdara, Zemun, and Palilula, despite Belgrade's population being in decline since 2021, alleging potential "pre-election voter manipulation" (). The Ministry of Internal Affairs published the residence data for Belgrade in mid November due to the allegations.
Election date At the Đilas–Vučić meeting in April 2022, Đilas demanded snap elections be held in Belgrade due to the inconclusive results of the 2022 election. Vučić responded by saying that the elections could be held in December 2022 or March 2023. In April 2023, newspaper Danas reported that snap parliamentary elections, local elections, Vojvodina provincial election, and the Belgrade City Assembly election could be held as early as November 2023. At a press conference in August 2023, Vučić said that early Belgrade City Assembly elections could be held in December 2023 or early 2024, while in September 2023, Vučić and Šapić announced that they could be held on 17 December 2023. Šapić resigned as mayor on 29 September, triggering a 30-day limit to appoint a new mayor. Considering that a new mayor was not appointed, an election had to be called. The government of Serbia sent a proposal to dissolve the City Assembly of Belgrade and constitute the Temporary Council of Belgrade on 30 October. Vladimir Orlić, the president of the National Assembly of Serbia, called the election on 1 November for 17 December.
The Temporary Council of Belgrade was constituted on 30 October, with Šapić serving as the president of the body, while Aleksandar Mirković, Nikola Nikodijević, Vladimir Obradović, and Dobrica Veselinović served as its members. Besides Šapić ceased being mayor, all local self-government bodies and executive bodies ceased to work until the election of a new mayor.
Political parties
The table below lists political parties represented in the City Assembly of Belgrade after the 2022 election.
Name Ideology Political position Leader 2022 result Votes (%) Seats SNS–led coalition Populism Big tent Aleksandar Šapić 38.83% United for the Victory of Belgrade Anti-corruption Centre Vladeta Janković 21.78% We Must Green politics Centre-left to left-wing Dobrica Veselinović 11.04% SPS–JS–ZS Populism Big tent Toma Fila 7.14% National Democratic Alternative National conservatism Right-wing Vojislav Mihailović 6.44% Serbian Party Oathkeepers Ultranationalism Far-right Milica ĐurđevićStamenkovski 3.57% Dveri–POKS Serbian nationalism Right-wing to far-right Boško Obradović 3.44%
Pre-election composition