BELGRADE – Despite multiple attempts to negotiate a joint list for the upcoming elections, four principal parties of the Serbian right-wing opposition will run on three lists, according to the latest information.
On Wednesday night, Dveri and Zavetnici formally announced a coalition called National Rally. Meanwhile, the leader of the New Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) Miloš Jovanović announced that this party will run together with its coalition partner from the previous elections, Movement for the Renewal of the Kingdom of Serbia.
This leaves the People’s Party, led by former Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić, to participate in the elections on its own or find another coalition partner.
A stumbling block seems to have been the demand by the New DSS for the parties to publically pledge to cooperate with pro-EU opposition after the elections so that the SNS government is removed from power. This was reportedly rejected by Zavetnici and Dveri due to the unpopularity of the leaders of the pro-EU opposition among their voters.
Dveri, Zavetnici and the New DSS co-organized the protests against agreements accepted by President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić and Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti in Brussels and Ohrid earlier this year.
The parties also share strong opposition to Serbia’s European Union membership and sanctions on Russia.
People’s Party, which participated in the 2022 elections in a coalition with pro-EU parties, started converging toward the views of the right-wing side of the spectrum following the Brussels and Ohrid agreements.
Following the announcement of the joint list of the majority of the pro-EU opposition, pressure started mounting on the right-wing opposition to replicate this move and form a joint list themselves.
However, despite several meetings mediated by prominent conservative intellectuals, no agreement was reached. The sides publically accused each other of this failure.
In 2022, Dveri, Zavetnici, and the New DSS all managed to clear the 3% threshold running on separate lists.
Right-wing opposition leading the protests against the Brussels-Ohrid agreements, March 2023
Photo: Facebook / Miloš Jovanović
