The election campaign for the 2023 Serbian parliamentary election lasted from 1 November to 17 December. The campaign saw the formation of the ProGlas initiative, as well as an increase of usage of the social media platform TikTok among politicians. Numerous debates also took place, mostly organised by the Radio Television of Serbia. Main issues discussed during the campaign were related to economy, North Kosovo crisis, and living standards. Aleksandar Vučić, the president of Serbia, despite not being a candidate in the elections, dominated the campaign. The Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) began its campaign shortly before the elections were announced; they were joined by former opposition politicians, while also heavily accusing the opposition of trying to incite a civil war. They campaigned on populist themes. The Socialist Party of Serbia coalition portrayed itself as socialist and patriotic, while also supporting the accession of Serbia to the European Union.
Regarding the opposition, Serbia Against Violence campaigned on environmental issues, economy, introducing progressive taxation, and education. The National Democratic Alternative campaigned on re-introducing the first-past-the-post system, while opposing corruption and party employment, and rejecting the Ohrid Agreement. The National Gathering coalition was endorsed by the Alternative for Germany and Obraz organisation; they supported establishing closer relations with BRICS, while opposing cooperation with the European Union and rejecting the Ohrid Agreement.
The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights reported, after the elections, that the SNS had "systematic advantage" over the opposition during the campaign, as well as reporting that the campaign was marked with negative campaigning and fearmongering. During the campaign, it was reported that independent media and opposition politicians received threats.
Background Parliamentary elections in Serbia are held every four years. Since the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) came to power in 2012, four parliamentary elections were held. The 2014, 2016, and 2022 parliamentary elections were held earlier than they were supposed to (i.e. snap election), while the 2020 parliamentary election is the only election which was called after the expiration of National Assembly's four-year term.
In April 2023, newspaper Danas reported that the parliamentary elections, local elections, the Vojvodina provincial elections, and the Belgrade City Assembly elections could be held as early as in November 2023. Newspaper Nova and news portal N1 reported in September 2023 that the government considered 19 December as the date for local, provincial, and parliamentary elections. Aleksandar Vučić, the president of Serbia, and Miloš Vučević, the president of the governing SNS, also held a gathering with officials from Vojvodina on 5 September, to discuss the Vojvodina provincial election. The decision to hold snap elections was confirmed in late September at a government session. For the election to take place on 17 December, the government of Serbia had to formally propose to dissolve the National Assembly between 18 October and 2 November. The president of Serbia then had 72 hours to decide whether to dissolve the National Assembly or not. The government of Serbia sent Vučić the proposal to dissolve the National Assembly and organise local elections in 65 cities and municipalities on 30 October. On 1 November, Vučić dissolved the National Assembly of Serbia and called the elections for 17 December. The official campaign period lasted 46 days.
Predicted issues Analysts, such as Dejan Bursać, a teaching associate at the Institute for Political Studies, journalists Bojan Bilbija (of Politika), Zoran Panović (of Demostat), and Miloš Garić (Kosovo Online editor-in-chief), Vladimir Pejić, the director of Agency Faktor Plus, Cvijetin Milivojević and political consultant Nikola Tomić, Bojan Klačar, and Stojanović, all cited the ongoing tensions with Kosovo as one of the main issues in the 2023 election.
Bilbija, Panović, Garić, Pejić, and Mihailović also cited the economy as one of the main issues. Bursać and Klačar also added rising prices as one of the main issues of the campaign, while Klačar and Stojanović agreed that living standards and inflation would also be one of the key issues.
Mihailović and Pejić also listed corruption and crime as one of the campaign issues. Klačar additionally named foreign policy positions and EU membership as main issues.
Conduct Halfway through the campaign, Croatian daily newspaper Večernji list described the 2023 election as "the most uncertain election since 2012". Political scientist and journalist Aleksandar Ivković warned that the campaign would be unprincipled, citing defacing graffiti, inflammatory posters, provocative music videos, and tabloid media content targeted against opposition groups and leaders before to its launch. Political scientist Boban Stojanović said that the political friction did not decrease and that "political violence will be seen until the end of the election campaign" (političko nasilje biće prisutno do kraja kampanje). Stojanović also said that the election was more uncertain than the 2022 election.
During the campaign, Vučić strongly criticised the opposition, alleging that a vote for them is "a vote for the president of the Party of Freedom and Justice, Dragan Đilas, a vote for the independence of Kosovo, and for the introduction of sanctions to Russia", and that Đilas controlled the entire opposition. He portrayed the election as "between the past [...] and the future" (između "prošlosti" [...] i "budućnosti), while alleging with Vučević that there was a plan to overthrow SNS from power. Ana Brnabić and Minister Aleksandar Martinović claimed that the opposition wanted to create disorder and incite a civil war, respectively. These statements were criticised by the non-government organisation CRTA.
During their visit in Serbia, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) representatives concluded that the campaign was characterised by polarisation and intimidation from the government. The representatives cited negative campaigning, incendiary rhetoric and hate speech towards opposition politicians, and attacks on independent media as examples. Raša Nedeljkov from the non-governmental organisation CRTA expected a rigorous and unfair campaign with bigotry as its cornerstone; he listed negative campaigning against political opponents, independent media representatives, civil society organisations, and election observers as examples. CRTA also claimed that voter intimidation increased during the campaign period. During the first three weeks of the election campaign, CRTA reported "inequality, suspicions, and threats" (neravnopravnost, sumnje i pretnje) in its analysis, claiming that government parties had significant advantage due to the abuse of public institutions. During the campaign, the Centre for Investigative Journalism of Serbia (CINS) revealed that a youth group ran a call centre to intimidate voters. CINS also reported that the call centre also possessed a database of voters, with voters sorted in groups based on whether they are a member of SNS, a SNS voter, or a non-SNS voter.
An informal organisation of high school students launched a campaign in October 2023 named "It's Up To You Too" (I ti se pitaš), aimed at first-time voters in the 2023 parliamentary election. The Civic Initiatives, a NGO, also launched a campaign with activists, professors, and public figures to boost the turnout and the number of controllers (members of polling stations) in the 2023 election. A group of public figures, including actors Svetlana Bojković, Dragan Bjelogrlić, former Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts president Vladimir S. Kostić, legal scholar and judge Miodrag Majić, and former University of Belgrade rector Ivanka Popović, presented the initiative ProGlas on 7 November 2023 to boost the electoral turnout for the 2023 election and promote anti-crime and anti-corruption ideas. The ProGlas initiative received than more 100,000 signatures of support by 15 November. Regarding ProGlas, political scientist Duško Radosavljević said that "if we will remember this campaign for something, it will be because of the attempt by professional and respected people to ask for a new understanding of politics. For me, that is a force that provides a real chance for Serbia to be better".
The 2023 parliamentary election campaign also saw the increase of usage of the social media platform TikTok among politicians. Vučić, Boris Tadić, the former president of Serbia, Marinika Tepić, Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) president Ivica Dačić, and finance minister Siniša Mali all joined the platform in November 2023, to present themselves to younger voters. Jelena Kleut, a professor at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Belgrade, said that "knowing the Serbian Progressive Party, this move is based on data suggesting that the TikTok electorate might be interested in going to the polls in the election".
Slogans Party/coalitionCampaign sloganEnglish translationRefsAlliance of Vojvodina HungariansFor our President, for our community, for the future!National Democratic AlternativePromene sad!Changes now!People's PartySiguran izbor. Ozbiljni ljudiSafe choice. Serious peopleSerbia Against ViolencePromena je počela!Change has begun!Serbian Radical PartyOtadžbina Srbija. Majka RusijaFatherland Serbia. Mother RussiaSDS–DJB–OBAPDobro jutro Srbijo!Good morning Serbia!SNS coalitionSrbija ne sme da stane Snaga je u ljudimaSerbia must not stop The power is in the peopleSPS–JS–ZeleniIvica Dačić – Premijer SrbijeIvica Dačić – Prime Minister of Serbia
Debates