Local elections were held in Serbia over two rounds on 3 November and 17 November 1996, concurrently with the 1996 Vojvodina provincial election. The first day of voting also coincided with the 1996 Yugoslavian parliamentary election and the 1996 Montenegrin parliamentary election.Europa World Year, Book 2, 2004, p. 3696 This was the third local election cycle held while Serbia was a constituent member of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the last time that Serbia oversaw local elections throughout Kosovo and Metohija until its controversial decision to hold elections in 2008.
Delegates to city and municipal assemblies were elected in single-member constituencies. If no candidate secured a majority in the first round of voting, a second round was held.
Campaign and aftermath The elections took place during the time of Slobodan Milošević's authoritarian rule as president of Serbia. In most major jurisdictions, Milošević's Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) ran in an alliance with the Yugoslav Left (JUL) and New Democracy (ND).
The main opposition grouping was the Zajedno alliance, which was formed in September 1996 by the Democratic Party (DS), the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO), and the Civic Alliance of Serbia (GSS).Robert Thomas, Serbia Under Miloševic: Politics in the 1990s, (London: Hurst & Company), 1999, p. 277. Several months of negotiations between the parties had taken place prior to the formal announcement of the alliance. The Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) participated in the Zajedno alliance in some jurisdictions, including Kragujevac, Pančevo, Smederevo, and Čačak, and contested other areas, such as Belgrade on its own.Thomas, Serbia Under Milošević, p. 285. The far-right Serbian Radical Party (SRS) contested the election on its own, directing its attacks on both Milošević and Zajedno.Thomas, Serbia Under Milošević, pp. 270-271.
The election results were marked by weeks of controversy. Zajedno claimed success in several major jurisdictions, but in most instances the SPS did not accept defeat and the local election commissions (often controlled by allies of Milošević) refused to certify the opposition's victories. In Belgrade, the election commission invalidated the results in thirty-three constituencies won by Zajedno and called a third round of voting for 27 November. The Zajedno parties boycotted the third round, charging abuse of process.Thomas, Serbia Under Milošević, pp. 286-287. These events led to the 1996–1997 protests in Serbia, in which student and opposition groups held a series of non-violent street rallies against the Milošević regime.
Milošević and his allies held a counter-rally in Belgrade on 24 December 1996 that drew only sixty thousand attendees (many of whom had been brought in from rural areas) against three hundred thousand opposition protesters.Thomas, Serbia Under Milošević, pp. 302-303. Three days later, a delegation from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) ruled that the opposition had indeed won several of the disputed elections, including in Belgrade, Niš, Pančevo, and Zrenjanin.Thomas, Serbia Under Milošević, p. 306. The Serbian government began to soften its position, accepting the opposition's victory in Niš on 8 January 1997.Thomas, Serbia Under Milošević, p. 309. The Belgrade election commission announced on 17 January that Zajedno had won the elections. The government initially refused to accept this ruling, but on 13 February (following police attacks on the opposition demonstrators that were condemned internationally) the Serbian parliament approved a lex specialis that affirmed almost all of the victories claimed by Zajedno.Thomas, Serbia Under Milošević, p. 315. Only two disputed jurisdictions were omitted from the lex specialis: the Belgrade municipalities of New Belgrade and Mladenovac. The SPS–JUL alliance remained in power in New Belgrade. In Mladenovac, two seats claimed by Zajedno were not given to the party. A Zajedno member later said this was an accidental oversight and that the two disputed seats should have been included in the law. Zajedno was able to form government in the municipality in any event. See "MILADIN MUTA MILIĆ (1957)", Mladenovčani, 2 July 2021, accessed 21 August 2021. The protests wound down after this time, and the Zajedno coalition took power in Belgrade and several other cities.
Ultimately, the parties in Zajedno were not able to remain united at the republic level, and the coalition fell apart in Belgrade before the year was over. In some jurisdictions, including Novi Sad, the Zajedno parties were able to maintain their alliance until the next local election cycle in 2000.
Results Unless otherwise noted, vote totals and percentages refer to the results in the first round of voting.
Belgrade Elections were held at the city level and in all of Belgrade's constituent municipalities. The Zajedno alliance won a majority victory in the city, as well as winning control of most municipal assemblies. The Socialists won a smaller number of victories, mostly in the city's outer suburbs, while the Radicals won control of Zemun.
City of Belgrade Results of the election for the City Assembly of Belgrade:
DS leader Zoran Đinđić was chosen as mayor on 21 February 1997, by a vote of sixty-eight to twenty-four among the city assembly's delegates. There were sixteen abstentions and one delegate was absent.Toronto Star, 22 February 1997, A17. Zajedno gained another seat shortly after the election, when DSS delegate Aleksandra Joksimović joined the DS.Thomas, Serbia Under Milošević, p. 315.
The SPO left the Zajedno alliance later in the year. Đinđić was dismissed as mayor on 30 September 1997, via an SPO motion that was supported by the SPS and SRS. Sixty-seven of the sixty-eight delegates present voted for Đinđić 's dismissal; the other delegate abstained. The non-SPO members of Zajedno boycotted this sitting of the assembly on the grounds that it had been improperly constituted.Thomas, Serbia Under Milošević, p. 351. Milan Božić of the SPO became the city's acting mayor after this time, and the SPO held all of the major positions in the city government with the informal support of the SPS and SRS. Božić was acting mayor for almost a year and a half before Vojislav Mihailović, also of the SPO, was voted to the position of mayor by the assembly in January 1999.
Municipalities of Belgrade Barajevo Results of the election for the Municipal Assembly of Barajevo:
Milan Damnjanović of the Socialist Party was chosen as mayor after the election.Službeni List (Grada Beograda), 11 April 1997, p. 145.
Čukarica Results of the election for the Municipal Assembly of Čukarica:
Zoran Alimpić of the Democratic Party was chosen as mayor after the election."Znalac gradskih poslova", Danas, 10 October 2007, accessed 21 August 2021.
Grocka Results of the election for the Municipal Assembly of Grocka:
Incumbent mayor Milan Janković of the Socialist Party was confirmed for another term in office after the election.Milan Janković - Žire , City of Belgrade, accessed 20 August 2021.
Lazarevac Results of the election for the Municipal Assembly of Lazarevac:
Živko Živković of the Socialist Party was chosen as mayor after the election.Službeni List (Grada Beograda), 10 December 1996, p. 470.
Mladenovac Results of the election for the Municipal Assembly of Mladenovac:
Predrag Čokić of the Serbian Renewal Movement was chosen as mayor after the election, by a vote of 28 to 27."Belgrade students call suspension of opposition rallies 'mistake'," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Service: Central Europe & Balkans, 19 February 1997 (Source: Serbian Radio, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 1400 gmt 17 Feb 97)."I docek i godisnjica protestne setnje", Naša Borba, 14 January 1998, accessed 21 August 2021."MILADIN MUTA MILIĆ (1957)", Mladenovčani, 2 July 2021, accessed 21 August 2021. This was one of two municipalities where the lex specialis did not recognize a victory claimed by Zajedno, although in this instance the coalition managed to form government in any event.
Shortly after the vote, three Zajedno representatives became independent (Citizens' Group) members, as did one representative from the Yugoslav Left.Borba, 21 August 1997, p. 9. The Zajedno administration was unstable during this period, but it ultimately managed to remain in power for the full term.
New Belgrade Results of the election for the Municipal Assembly of New Belgrade:
Incumbent mayor Čedomir Ždrnja of the Socialist Party was confirmed for another term in office after the election."Assembly constituted in important suburb," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Service: Central Europe & Balkans, 17 January 1997 (Source: Tanjug news agency, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 1839 gmt 15 Jan 97). This was one of two municipalities where the lex specialis did not recognize a victory claimed by Zajedno.
Obrenovac Results of the election for the Municipal Assembly of Obrenovac:
There were difficulties in establishing a local government after the election.Borba, 9 September 1998, p. 2.
Palilula Results of the election for the Municipal Assembly of Palilula:
Gordana Todić of the Democratic Party was chosen as mayor after the election.Službeni List (Grada Beograda), 22 February 1997, p. 40.
Rakovica Results of the election for the Municipal Assembly of Rakovica:
Predrag Dokmanović of the Serbian Renewal Movement was chosen as mayor after the election."NATO strikes said to have damaged monastery, school, libraries in Belgrade," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Service: Central Europe & Balkans, 17 April 1998 (Source: Tanjug news agency, Belgrade, in English 1335 gmt 15 Apr 99).
Savski Venac Results of the election for the Municipal Assembly of Savski Venac:
Zdravko Krstić of the Serbian Renewal Movement was chosen as mayor after the election.Uroš Komlenović, "Shots at the Mayor", Vreme, 23 August 1997, accessed 21 August 2021.
Sopot Results of the election for the Municipal Assembly of Sopot:
Incumbent mayor Živorad Milosavljević of the Socialist Party was confirmed for another term in office after the election."Живорад Милосављевић", Municipality of Sopot, accessed 5 May 2021.
Stari Grad Results of the election for the Municipal Assembly of Stari Grad:
Incumbent mayor Jovan Kažić of the Serbian Renewal Movement was confirmed for another term in office after the election.Stari Grad (Grada Beograda), 10 December 1996, p. 466.
Voždovac Results of the election for the Municipal Assembly of Voždovac:
Nebojša Atanacković of the Serbian Renewal Movement was chosen as mayor after the election.M.T. Kovačević, "I Voždovac i Zemun idu na izbore?!", Novosti, 6 February 2016, accessed 19 August 2021.
Vračar Results of the election for the Municipal Assembly of Vračar:
Milena Milošević of the Democratic Party was chosen as mayor after the election.S. Janjić and J. Subin, "Iz fotelje posle decenije", Novosti, 8 June 2006, accessed 7 June 2021.
Zemun Results of the election for the Municipal Assembly of Zemun:
Radical Party leader Vojislav Šešelj was chosen as mayor after the election.Thomas, Serbia Under Milošević, p. 301. He resigned on 30 March 1998 after being appointed as a minister in the Serbian government and was replaced by Stevo Dragišić, also of the Radicals.Borba, 31 March 1996, p. 4.
Zvezdara Results of the election for the Municipal Assembly of Zvezdara:
Vučeta Mandić of Zajedno was chosen as mayor after the election.IZBEGLICE, NIN, 23 September 1999.
Vojvodina North Bačka District Elections were held in all three municipalities of the North Bačka District. No party won a clear victory in any of the jurisdictions, and all of the new local administrations established afterward included representation from both the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians (VMSZ) and the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), along with other parties.
Subotica Results of the election for the Municipal Assembly of Subotica: