A political scandal which arises questions about the quality of democracy in the country has erupted in Serbia.
In a statement issued on Monday, the New Communist Party of Yugoslavia (NKPJ) accusses the Republic Electoral Commission of Serbia (RIK) for political discrimination after the rejection of the Party's registration for the upcoming parliamentary elections which are scheduled to take place on June 21st.
At the same time, according to the New Communist Party, the Electoral Commission has granted permission to the far-right, ultranationalist party Levijatan Movement, by overturning its previous decision in which it had ruled that the group did not qualify for registration. It seems that Serbia's route to EU membership goes hand by hand with the intentification of anti-communism and political discimination.
More specifically, the NKPJ statement signed by General Secretary Аleksandar Banjanac reads:
The New Communist Party of Yugoslavia (NKPJ) and the League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia (SKOJ) have accused the Election commission in Serbia (RIK) of discrimination after it rejected our registration for the parliamentary elections scheduled for 21 June 2020.
The RIK has not allowed sufficient time to the communist list headed by and Aleksandar Banjanac and Aleksandar Đenić to redress any shortcomings in order to qualify for contesting the elections.
At the same time, the RIK reportedly overturned its own decision a day after refusing registration to a right-wing group, the Levijatan Movement. The RIK had earlier ruled that the group did not qualify for registration to the elections as it had failed to submit the required number of signatures in support of its candidates.
The NKPJ and SKOJ note that it is clear that the RIK discriminated against the Communists during these elections, which shows that everyone could participate in these elections except our list.
Representatives of the NKPJ and SKOJ handed over the collected signatures for the list “Socialism is the only way out” to the RIK on 5 June. NKPJ and SKOJ ask our sister communist and workers parties to organize demonstrations in front of the Serbian Embassy by Friday, June 19, or to protest against discrimination against the list "Socialism Is The Only Way Out - NKPJ-SKOJ" to the Republic Election Commission by e-mail rik@parlament.rs and elections@parlament.rs.
We thank you in advance for your solidarity!