RIK Approves Karic and 'Cale Ovo Je za Tebe' Lists

Serbia’s Republic Election Commission (RIK) approved the “Bogoljub Karic, Movement of Serbia’s Strength, BK” electoral list on Saturday, September 26, and, after a debate that ran nearly an hour, also approved the “Cale Ovo Je za Tebe, Petar Djuric, Prime Minister of Serbia” list. Both will run in the snap parliamentary election scheduled for October 25. According to Sputnik, the Karic list was approved as the twelfth in order, while Telegraf recorded the “Cale Ovo Je za Tebe” list as the thirteenth.

All 23 members present at the session voted for the Karic list, with no votes against. The approval came after the Movement of Serbia’s Strength fixed a problem RIK had flagged earlier: candidate Danijela Sinadinovic was not registered in the Unified Voter Register, so the Commission gave the parties 48 hours to submit proof of voting rights or withdraw the candidate. The movement withdrew Sinadinovic’s candidacy, and RIK accepted Vera Filipovic’s candidacy in her place.

How the vote went on the “Cale Ovo Je za Tebe” list

Sixteen RIK members voted to approve Petar Djuric’s list, four voted against, and three abstained. Deputy commission member and rapporteur Milos Sreckovic said the list had submitted 10,007 legally valid signatures of support, enough for approval. Sreckovic also told the session that

“the newly proposed candidate for member of parliament is registered in the Unified Voter Register and has the right to vote.”

That confirmation addressed the eligibility question the list had faced going into the vote.

Debate began before the vote itself. RIK member Tanasije Marinkovic asked for the list’s approval to be pulled from the agenda, saying he had not been given access to the electoral material ahead of the session. “We have an obligation to carry out this candidacy process in a lawful manner,” Marinkovic said, adding that doing so would not push RIK past its legal deadline for deciding.

Commission member Jelena Vranjes backed his request; she had reviewed the submitted material on Friday evening. She said the residence address listed in the agreement establishing the citizens’ group did not match Petar Djuric’s own address, and that the relevant authorities had not determined which address applied. RIK member Marko Zivanovic called for extra checks on the documentation, saying the list had raised public suspicion, though he added that the Commission deals only with legal questions.

Despite the objections, a majority on the Republic Election Commission approved Petar Djuric’s list once the debate ended.

The deadline for submitting lists closes on October 4

The deadline for submitting electoral lists for the October 25 election closes at midnight on October 4, and RIK can still accept new candidacies until then. Srpske Novine reported on September 24 that the Commission had, at that point, asked for a check on the verified voter signatures behind the Karic list.

Whether the makeup of Petar Djuric’s list, whose agreement address drew objections from within the Commission itself, will face further RIK scrutiny or the dispute is already settled should become clear once that deadline passes.