Members of the party submit the signatures
Photo: X / @StrankaNarodna
BELGRADE – Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) has proclaimed the list submitted by the People’s Party (NS) “Safe Choice. Serious People” as the eleventh on the ballot.
In 2022, NS entered the parliament with the parties that are now members of the “Serbia Against Violence” opposition coalition. Over the course of the last year, the relations between NS and the rest of the pro-EU opposition grew more distant and it was not a part of the coalition negotiations for these elections.
People’s Party was founded as centre-right moderately pro-EU party, but grew more Eurosceptic following the acceptance of the EU-mediated Brussels/Ohrid agreement between Aleksandar Vučić and Albin Kurti this year.
The party now rejects Serbia’s EU membership, as the implementation of the agreement is a pre-condtion. It advocates for its membership in the European Economic Area instead.
Its shift in political orientation has led to negotiations for a joint list with the right-wing opposition parties, all of whom reject the Brussels/Ohrid agreement. These negotiations failed, leading to the decision of NS to run alone, the only non-minority party to do so.
Based on the recent trends, crossing the 3% threshold would be considered a success for the party.
“The vote for the People’s Party is the vote for what we say today, and we will not change our position. And what we say is that the rejection of the French-German plan (Brussels/Ohrid agreement) for the independence of Kosovo and Metohija one of the most important challenges that Serbia faces”, leader of the party Vuk Jeremić said.
The party was founded after the 2017 presidential bid of Jeremić, former Foreign Minister of Serbia (2007-2012) and former President of the United Nations General Assembly (2012-2013).
It generally cooperated with the pro-EU opposition until this year.
However, it suffered two recent splits. Last summer, the 2022 opposition presidential runner-up Zdravko Ponoš left NS to set up his own party. The same thing was done a year later by Miroslav Aleksić, former deputy president of People’s Party and one of the most prominent opposition politicians.
Both Ponoš and Aleksić are now members of the “Serbia Against Violence” coalition.
