New Serbian parliament inaugurated despite reports of election rigging and other irregularities

Serbia’s National Assembly has held a tense inaugural session as the ruling nationalists ignored widespread reports that parliamentary and municipal elections held in December were marred by vote rigging and numerous other irregularities

BELGRADE, Serbia -- Serbia's National Assembly held a tense inaugural session on Tuesday as the ruling nationalists ignored widespread reports that parliamentary and municipal elections held in December were marred by vote rigging and numerous other irregularities.

As the session started, opposition lawmakers gathered around the speaker's stand, whistling, booing and holding signs that read “You Stole the Elections." Others held photos of populist Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic with a caption that read “The mafia boss.”

Supporters of the ruling Serbian Progressive party displayed a large banner denouncing the opposition.

Vucic’s party won 129 seats in the 250-seat assembly in the Dec. 17 vote. The opposition Serbia Against Violence coalition finished a distant second with 65 seats.

A vote-monitoring mission made up of representatives of international rights watchdogs said in a preliminary report issued after the parliamentary and municipal elections that they were “marred by harsh rhetoric, bias in the media, pressure on public sector employees and misuse of public resources.”