Dimitrijevic: Electoral commission not competent to act on opposition request

BELGRADE - The head of Serbia's national electoral commission Vladimir Dimitrijevic said on Wednesday the body was not competent to act on a request for repeat local elections in Belgrade, filed by some opposition parties.

"If the idea is to label the commission as the culprit because they might be dissatisfied with the results, I have no influence on that," Dimitrijevic told the commission members during a session.

He explained that a repeat of the entire electoral procedure depended on other authorities rather than on the will of bodies tasked with carrying out elections.

Dimitrijevic also said Marinika Tepic and Miroslav Aleksic, representatives of the Serbia Against Violence coalition, had informed him they would go on a hunger strike, and added that they had previously asked for his legal opinion on the material accompanying their request.

He said he had tried to point out its legal deficiencies and to explain to them that they could not submit a request for repeat elections and that the commission could not consider one.

"They kept interrupting me, they said they were robbed and they expressed distrust in my opinion because the (ruling) Serbian Progressive Party put me forward as commission president," he said.

"I got the impression they trusted their legal team, which also prepared their request. I also intended to explain to them that they have been deluded. Based on the wrong conclusion, they informed me that they have gone on a hunger strike inside the commission's building, even though they are aware the address for their request is on another location," Dimitrijevic said.