Serbian public sector workers report being forced to vote for SNS — Balkan Insight
Employees of state institutions and enterprises in Serbia have reported pressure ahead of snap parliamentary elections: they are required to support the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), attend its rallies and collect votes from acquaintances. This was reported by Balkan Insight, citing employee testimonies and a BIRN investigation.
In particular, eight employees of Serbia’s Republic Geodetic Authority (RGZ), which is responsible for land registers and employs more than 2,000 people, spoke of requirements to sign lists in support of SNS and take part in party events. According to them, the pressure intensified after Dalibor Babić was appointed acting director in August. The RGZ did not respond to BIRN’s requests.
Lists of loyal voters
About 180 people responded to BIRN’s questionnaire on pressure at work, while more than 20 respondents gave interviews on condition of anonymity. They described the practice of compiling lists of so-called safe voters and collecting “capillary” votes — the names and contact details of friends, relatives or colleagues who must also promise support for SNS.
BIRN’s sources claim that instructions are usually not sent by email or in messages. Instead, employees are summoned individually to managers or department heads. For refusing, respondents said, they may be threatened with a lack of career advancement, reduced pay, transfer to a worse position or to a remote workplace.
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A survey by the Belgrade-based non-governmental organization CRTA, conducted in 2022 among 1,075 respondents, found that 14% of Serbia’s population had faced pressure to vote for a particular party. OSCE observers since 2014 and the European Commission since 2017 have also drawn attention to pressure on voters employed in the public sector.
Working for the party during working hours
Thirteen workers surveyed by BIRN said that in recent years their institutions had hired people who, they claimed, worked for SNS in call centers or at party events instead of performing their official duties. Some of them, according to the sources, simultaneously received salaries, overtime bonuses and premiums.
Employees of the Infostan municipal utility company in Belgrade said that some new staff worked at party stands or in call centers, and also stayed at an SNS supporters’ camp in central Belgrade. Infostan also did not respond to BIRN’s requests. Former Commissioner for the Protection of Equality Brankica Janković told the outlet that political hiring under the current authorities had reached the scale of systemic discrimination based on political beliefs.
