Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06BELGRADE977
2006-06-20 10:46:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Belgrade
Cable title:  

LDP - THE LITTLE PARTY THAT COULD

Tags:  PGOV PREL SR 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO4623
RR RUEHAST
DE RUEHBW #0977 1711046
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 201046Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY BELGRADE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8837
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS BELGRADE 000977 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL SR
SUBJECT: LDP - THE LITTLE PARTY THAT COULD


UNCLAS BELGRADE 000977

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL SR
SUBJECT: LDP - THE LITTLE PARTY THAT COULD



1. (sbu) SUMMARY: Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) candidate Milivoj
Vrebalov won in rerun elections for the mayor of Novi Becej
municipality by beating his SRS opponent with only 250 votes.
Despite public support for SRS by all political parties except DS,
this is the first municipality where a candidate from Serbia's
newest political party managed to win. Although local elections are
not necessarily a good indicator of a party's national popularity,
these elections show some hope for LDP's prospects in future
parliamentary elections. END SUMMARY.


2. (u) According to unofficial results, Liberal Democratic Party
(LDP) candidate Milivoj Vrebalov won the second round of mayoral
elections in Novi Becej. Vrebalov earned a narrow majority of 50.9
percent or 4136 votes, whereas the runner-up from the Serbian
Radical Party (SRS) won 49.1 percent or 3992 votes. Elections in
Novi Becej were organized after the SRS-led recall of previous DS
mayor Aca Djukicin.


3. (u) Novi Becej is small agricultural municipality in the central
part of Vojvodina, the northern autonomous province of Serbia.
Total population of Novi Becej is 27,000 inhabitants (21,000
registered voters) of which 80 percent are Serbs and 20 percent
Hungarians. The political scene of Novi Becej is characterized by a
large number of political parties and groups of citizens represented
in the local municipal assembly, of which even ten different parties
constitute the ruling majority. Radicals are the strongest single
political party in Novi Bacej, due in large part to the settling of
Serb IDP's and refugees from Croatia and Kosovo. Earlier this year,
the local SRS chapter initiated a recall referendum that succeeded
largely because of low turnout - less than 20 percent of registered
voters managed to recall the mayor.


4. (u) The Liberal Democratic Party, led by former deputy PM and DS
vice president (under Djindjic and Zivkovic) Cedomir Jovanovic,
through hard and aggressive "field" work, established a strong party
branch in Novi Becej mostly comprised of disappointed DS members.
These elections were only the third where LDP, formed in November
2005 and launched in January of 2006, participated. In local
elections held April and May 2006 the party got 3 percent of the
vote in Kula, 6 percent in Kovin and entered local assembly with 3
counselors and finally 20 percent in the first round in Novi Becej,
placing themselves just below radicals but ahead the coalition of
DSS, NS and G17+, and ahead of DS. In Novi Becej, LDP forced a
run-off with SRS, who was not only supported by his own party, but
also by most other political parties in Novi Becej - including
notably DSS and G-17 Plus, whose leadership just days earlier had
introduced a petition in Belgrade to bar SRS from politics. Only DS
provided public support for LDP candidate, and despite hard rhetoric
between DS and LDP, Dragan Sutanovac, vice-resident of DS, sincerely
congratulated LDP for this success. Sutanovac said that there is no
doubt that DS will always support any democratic party over the
radicals.


5. (sbu) Comment: Local elections in Serbia can not be used as a
certain indicator of national popularity of any political party.
Selection of candidates, their credibility in local environment, a
lot of hard campaigning on local issues, and a number of other local
circumstances usually determine winners on local elections.
However, this win will provide momentum for the 6-month old party.
DS party insiders tell us they have started to account for the
possibility of an LDP-GSS (Civic Alliance) coalition making the
threshold in future parliamentary elections, and have indicated both
privately and publicly their willingness to work together - if need
be. As both the Novi Becej recall and the election results
indicate, though, voter apathy/participation will probably be a
deciding factor as national parliamentary elections loom in the
fall.

POLT