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Georgia shows what could follow Serbia’s election– www.washingtonexaminer.com
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EXCERPT:
On Oct. 25, Aleksandar Vucic’s ruling coalition will face Serbia’s student protest movement and established opposition parties at the ballot box. Vucic, who resigned as president in September to seek the premiership, wants to extend his Serbian Progressive Party’s 14-year hold on power. The danger extends beyond whether his party manipulates the vote. His government could portray protests against the result as a Western plot, crack down on opponents, and accelerate state capture.
Georgia offers a preview of what could follow Serbia’s election. The ruling parties in both countries have spent years weakening institutions, intimidating critics, and tilting elections toward incumbents. The useful comparison is what happened after Georgia’s contested October 2024 vote. Georgian Dream turned an electoral dispute into an opportunity to narrow the space for opposition, watchdogs, and protest. Vucic has the tools to attempt something similar.
In Georgia, manipulation began well before Election Day. Georgian Dream passed a foreign-influence law targeting foreign-funded organizations and media. Election observers documented pressure on public employees, misuse of state resources, and compromised ballot secrecy in roughly a quarter of polling-station observations. More than 1,200 complaints followed the vote, but the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights found that many lacked effective remedies. Georgian Dream retained power, opposition parties rejected the results and boycotted parliament.
Georgian Dream intensified its crackdown after the election. Police violently dispersed protests and detained more than 500 demonstrators. Authorities also jailed opposition leaders and froze civil society groups’ bank accounts. Georgian Dream suspended its pursuit of EU accession talks until 2028, enacted tougher foreign-agent restrictions carrying prison sentences of up to five years, and required government approval for foreign grants. It also moved to ban five opposition parties through the Constitutional Court.
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