Sapic: "I appeal on everyone not to allow us to descend into anarchy"

Photo: Marko Jovanovic

"To be involved in politics is a great responsibility and being able to accept both victory and defeat in a dignified way, and that's why I appeal on everyone not to allow ourselves to descend into anarchy by introducing a new political culture into our lives, where whoever loses an election stops the state," said the president of the Provisional Authority of the City of Belgrade, Aleksandar Sapic.

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Speaking on TV Happy, he stressed that he expected a good result in Belgrade, because surveys indicated it, but also because of everything that was done in the previous year and a half.

Sapic said that the opposition on the other hand claimed that Belgrade was a "done deal" and that it was only necessary to call an election and "verify" their victory.

"They did not take into account how many things have been done in Belgrade in the previous year, and they underestimated me. I will remind them that I have been doing this job (politics) for 14 years and that there are not very many elections I lost. They also underestimated President Vucic, who was very committed to these elections, because he was aware of the historical moment we are in regarding the development of the geopolitical situation in the world," Sapic said.

He recalled that in the previous period, he had gone to the polls many times and won people's trust, not because he was given a pass, but based on what he was doing.

"During a year and three months I served as mayor, I worked very hard and presented some results to the citizens, while their (opposition) list thought that everything was going their way, especially the high turnout. When they realized that they were losing, they started talking about voters from the Serb Republic (RS) - and their proof is a video from in front of the Belgrade Arena showing 20-30 people," recalled Sapic.

He stressed that voters from the Serb Republic and all others who have dual citizenship are allowed to vote in the Republic of Serbia ever since 2004, regardless of where they come from.

"To this day, and that is almost two decades, no one has ever questioned why people with dual citizenship vote in Serbia or in Belgrade. The legality of that is not under a question mark, because those people have the right to vote according to the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, but now the opposition raises the question of legitimacy," he said.

"To march wherever you want" and, "to block whatever you want" - under the pretext of freedom and rights, such behavior is slowly but surely getting out of control, Sapic said, referring to the opposition.

"If any interest group threatens the functioning of the city or the state, we descend into anarchy and introduce a new political culture into our lives, where whoever loses an election stops the state," said Sapic.

"This is the 'Maidan atmosphere' which in Ukraine heralded a big war with terrible consequences – the country is destroyed, many lives have been lost, the number of wounded and refugees is not even known."

He reminded that all the minutes taken at the polling stations have been signed (by members of local commissions present there) and added that the RIK and the GIK (state and city electoral commissions) are the bodies that only enter the results that arrive to them from the field.

"The polling stations are the places where the legitimacy and legality of an election is confirmed, the representatives of all parties and organizations are there (in the commissions), and when the votes are counted and the record is signed and sealed, it is not opened again unless there were problems with that record. But there have been no complaints filed to date," Sapic said.

According to him, if the election list led by Doctor Branimir Nestorovic decides not to support either the ruling or the opposition coalition, then it means that new local elections will be organized in the city of Belgrade.

(Telegraf.rs)