Local elections were held in
Belgrade
Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
on 3 April 2022 to elect members of the
City Assembly.
Alongside the election,
national-level general elections and
local elections
Local may refer to:
Geography and transportation
* Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand
* Local, Missouri, a community in the United States
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...
in 12 other towns and municipalities were held on the same day.
Background
Following the vote of no confidence in 2013,
Dragan Đilas
Dragan Đilas ( sr-cyr, Драган Ђилас, , born 22 February 1967) is a Serbian businessman and politician who served as the mayor of Belgrade from 2008 to 2013.
From 25 November 2012 until 31 May 2014, he served as the President of the ...
was dismissed as
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
, and a temporary body was set up by the
Serbian Progressive Party
The Serbian Progressive Party (, SNS) is a major populist, catch-all party, catch-all List of political parties in Serbia, political party in Serbia. It has been the Ruling party, ruling party since 2012. Miloš Vučević, the former prime mi ...
(SNS), who has ruled Belgrade since then. The current session of the City Assembly was elected in
2018
Events January
* January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency.
* January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
, after SNS,
Socialist Party of Serbia
The Socialist Party of Serbia (, abbr. SPS) is a populist political party in Serbia. Ivica Dačić has led SPS as its president since 2006.
SPS was founded in 1990 as a merger of the League of Communists of Serbia and Socialist Alliance ...
(SPS) and
United Serbia
United Serbia (, abbr. JS) is a national-conservative political party in Serbia. It split from the Party of Serbian Unity in 2004. The party has supported every government formed since its creation, and was briefly in government in 2022–23. ...
(JS) formed a majority.
Zoran Radojičić
Zoran Radojičić ( sr-cyr, Зоран Радојичић; born 24 October 1963) is a Serbian pediatric surgeon and politician who served as the mayor of Belgrade from 2018 to 2022.
Biography
Early life and education
He was born on 24 Octo ...
, an independent endorsed by SNS, was elected mayor, succeeding
Siniša Mali
Siniša Mali ( sr-Cyrl, Синиша Мали, ; born 25 August 1972) is a Serbian economist and politician serving aFirst Deputy Prime minister of Serbiasince 2024 and as minister of finance since 2018. A member of the Serbian Progressive Part ...
, while
Goran Vesić
Goran Vesić (; born 18 February 1969) is a Serbian politician who served as the minister of construction, transport and infrastructure from 2022 to 2024. A member of the Serbian Progressive Party, he served as a member of the National Assembly ...
was elected deputy mayor. The 2018 election also marked the return of Đragan Đilas to politics, and his list ended up gaining 26 seats, while the list led by
Aleksandar Šapić
Aleksandar Šapić ( sr-cyrl, Александар Шапић; born 1 June 1978) is a Serbian politician and former professional water polo player who has been the mayor of Belgrade since 2024, previously serving that role from 2022 to 2023. A ...
won 12 seats.
Later that year, the
Alliance for Serbia
The Alliance for Serbia ( sr-cyrl, Савез за Србију, Savez za Srbiju, abbr. SZS) was an opposition alliance of List of political parties in Serbia, political parties in Serbia that was founded in September 2018. The alliance boycotted ...
(SzS) was formed by Đilas, along with
Vuk Jeremić
Vuk Jeremić ( sr-Cyrl, Вук Јеремић, ; born 3 July 1975) is a Serbian politician and diplomat who served as the president of the United Nations General Assembly from 2012 to 2013 and as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia from 2 ...
,
Zoran Lutovac
Zoran Lutovac ( sr-Cyrl, Зоран Лутовац; born 7 August 1964) is a Serbian politician and former diplomat who served as the president of the Democratic Party from 2018 to 2024. A former ambassador of Serbia to Montenegro between 2008 a ...
, and
Boško Obradović
Boško Obradović ( sr-Cyrl, Бошко Обрадовић; ; born 23 August 1976) is a Serbian politician. He is the co-founder and former president of the right-wing political party Dveri. He was the party's nominee for the 2017 and 2022 pre ...
. It was a major opposition alliance, that also played a key role in the
2018–2020 protests, and it boycotted the
2020 parliamentary election.
Municipal elections
In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct var ...
were held in Belgrade after the parliamentary election, in which, SNS won a majority in all 16 Belgrade
municipalities
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
except
New Belgrade
New Belgrade (, ) is a Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality of the city of Belgrade. It was a Planned community, planned city and now is the central business district of Serbia and South East Europe. Construction began in 1948 in a previously un ...
, where the
Serbian Patriotic Alliance
The Serbian Patriotic Alliance (, abbr. SPAS; ) was a right-wing populist political party in Serbia. It was led by Aleksandar Šapić, the president of the New Belgrade municipality.
The legal predecessor of SPAS was the Movement of United L ...
(SPAS), which was led by Aleksandar Šapić, managed to form a local government, third time in a row. During that period,
protests
A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration, or remonstrance) is a public act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate ...
erupted in Belgrade over the announcement of the reimplementation of the curfew and government's allegedly poor handling of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. The demonstrators took to the streets, stormed the
National Assembly building, and clashed with the police. The clashes and riots continued for the next few days, while the police used excessive force.
In May 2021, Šapić merged his party into SNS, after which he was promoted to vice president of the party. A series of
environmental protests
The Environmental Justice Atlas documented 3,100 Environmental conflict, environmental conflicts worldwide as of April 2020 and emphasised that many more conflicts remained undocumented.
Climate
* Global Climate March
* Global Day of Action ...
have been held in Belgrade as early as January 2021, although since September 2021, the protests have garnered greater attention, which led to
roadblock
A roadblock is a temporary installation set up to control or block traffic along a road. The reasons for one could be:
* Roadworks
*Temporary road closure during special events
* Police chase
*Robbery
* Sobriety checkpoint
* Protests
In peaceful ...
s on the
Gazela Bridge
The Gazela Bridge () is the most important bridge over the Sava river in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is a part of the city highway, and it lies on the local M11 expressway, on the expressway passing through the wider city center, conne ...
in November and December 2021.
Electoral system
Local elections in Belgrade are held under a
proportional representation system
Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (political parties) among voters. The aim ...
. Voters in Belgrade will determine the composition of the City Assembly, which in turn elects the mayor. Shortly prior the election, parties must submit a
ballot list and their ballot leader.
One mandate of a mayor and an elected member of the City Assembly lasts four years.
On 15 February 2022,
Ivica Dačić
Ivica Dačić ( sr-cyrl, Ивица Дачић, ; born 1 January 1966) is a Serbian politician serving as deputy prime minister of Serbia since 2022 and minister of internal affairs since 2024. He has been the leader of the Socialist Party of ...
, the
president of the National Assembly, called the local elections.
Political parties
The table below lists political parties represented in the City Assembly of Belgrade after the 2018 election.
Pre-election composition
Electoral lists
The following are the official
electoral list
An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can c ...
s published by the Belgrade City Electoral Commission (GIK).
Campaign
Slogans
Party campaigns
Serbian Progressive Party
In January 2022, the Serbian Progressive Party chose
Aleksandar Šapić
Aleksandar Šapić ( sr-cyrl, Александар Шапић; born 1 June 1978) is a Serbian politician and former professional water polo player who has been the mayor of Belgrade since 2024, previously serving that role from 2022 to 2023. A ...
as their candidate for mayor, and GIK confirmed their ballot list on 17 February.
Opinion polls
Mayor preferences
Results
The following results were published with 88.63% of polling stations reporting. Voting was repeated at three voting stations on 16 April and on two voting stations on 21 April. Final results were published on 9 May. SNS and SPS won the most votes in Suburban municipalities, such as
Obrenovac
Obrenovac ( sr-cyr, Обреновац, ) is a municipality of the city of Belgrade. According to the 2022 census results, the municipality has a population of 68,882 inhabitants, while the urban area has 25,380 inhabitants. The old name for Obreno ...
,
Barajevo
Barajevo ( sr-Cyrl, Барајево, ) is a municipality of the city of Belgrade. According to the 2022 census results, the municipality has a population of 26,431 inhabitants.
The municipality is located in the lower northern part of Šumadija ...
and others, while UZPS and Moramo got a majority of their votes from central municipalities such as
Vračar
Vračar ( sr-Cyrl, Врачар, ) is an affluent urban area and Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality of the city of Belgrade known as the location of many embassies and museums. According to the 2022 census results, the municipality has a popul ...
,
Stari Grad and
Savski Venac
Savski Venac ( sr-cyr, Савски Венац, ) is a municipality of the city of Belgrade. According to the 2022 census results, the municipality has a population of 36,699 inhabitants.
It is one of the three municipalities which constitute the ...
.
Aftermath
Preliminary results were published a day after the elections. Opposition parties had managed to win more votes than the governing parties, although the opposition
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
Form ...
remained below the threshold. The
We Must
We Must ( sr-Cyrl, Морамо, Moramo; stylised as MORAMO,) was an opposition electoral alliance that participated in the 2022 Serbian general elections.
Initially formed in November 2021, when Together for Serbia (ZZS), Do not let Belgrade ...
coalition called for a discussion between opposition parties, while the
National Democratic Alternative and
Dveri
The Serbian Movement Dveri (), commonly just known as Dveri (), is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Serbia. Its current president since 2024 is Ivan Kostić, who succeeded Boško Obradović, one of the co-founders of ...
have stated that they would cooperate with other opposition parties to form a local government.
Zoran Alimpić
Zoran Alimpić ( sr-cyr, Зоран Алимпић; born 20 October 1965) is the former chairman of the Assembly of the City of Belgrade.
He was born in Pančevo. He has lived in Belgrade since 1968, where he finished primary school, secondary ...
, the representative of the United for the Victory of Belgrade coalition, and the We Must coalition stated that
irregularities occurred during the election day. The opposition held a press conference on 5 April.
Following the conference,
Dragan Đilas
Dragan Đilas ( sr-cyr, Драган Ђилас, , born 22 February 1967) is a Serbian businessman and politician who served as the mayor of Belgrade from 2008 to 2013.
From 25 November 2012 until 31 May 2014, he served as the President of the ...
and
Marinika Tepić
Marinika Tepić (;, ; , born 8 August 1974) is a Serbian politician. She is a vice-president of the Party of Freedom and Justice (SSP) and a prominent opponent of President of Serbia, Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić and the governing Serbi ...
stated that "the shortest route would be to call early elections". Đilas later met with
Aleksandar Vučić
Aleksandar Vučić, (born 5 March 1970) is a Serbian politician serving as President of Serbia since 2017. A founding member of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), he previously served as President of the SNS from 2012 to 2023, Deputy Prim ...
to discuss the outcome of the elections. The move was criticized by the
People's Party and
Serbian Party Oathkeepers
The Serbian Party Oathkeepers (, abbr. SSZ), commonly known as just Oathkeepers, is a far-right political party in Serbia. Milica Đurđević Stamenkovski has been the party's president since 2021.
Initially known as Serbian Council Oathkeep ...
, while
Zoran Lutovac
Zoran Lutovac ( sr-Cyrl, Зоран Лутовац; born 7 August 1964) is a Serbian politician and former diplomat who served as the president of the Democratic Party from 2018 to 2024. A former ambassador of Serbia to Montenegro between 2008 a ...
, president of the Democratic Party, said that Đilas did not consult with other coalition members before the meeting. Radomir Lazović, a representative of the We Must coalition, stated that "two people
učić and Đilasshould not decide on matters that are far beyond their competence". Dveri had stated their support for the formation of a
minority government
A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...
.
The Social Democratic Party failed to cross the threshold even after the repeated elections on 16 and 21 April; they have claimed that the votes were stolen in order for them to not cross the threshold. Opposition parties have stated that the next elections might be called earlier. Lutovac stated that he would prefer to create a wide alliance of moderate parties for the next election, while
Pavle Grbović
Pavle Grbović (; born 19 November 1993) is a Serbian politician. He has been the president of the Movement of Free Citizens (PSG) since 2020 and a member of the National Assembly of Serbia since 2022.
Early life and education
He was born in ...
, the leader of the Movement of Free Citizens, stated that his party might leave the coalition in order to continue alone. On 20 June,
Aleksandar Šapić
Aleksandar Šapić ( sr-cyrl, Александар Шапић; born 1 June 1978) is a Serbian politician and former professional water polo player who has been the mayor of Belgrade since 2024, previously serving that role from 2022 to 2023. A ...
was chosen as
mayor of Belgrade
The mayor of Belgrade () is the head of the City of Belgrade (the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia). The mayor acts on behalf of the city, and performs an Executive (government), executive function in th ...
.
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belgrade City Assembly election, 2022
2022 elections in Serbia
April 2022 in Europe
2020s in Belgrade
Local elections in Serbia
2022
The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...