Legal procedure in the District Court was very interesting; after the intervention of a high Socialist official, Ljubomir Ilkic (deputy to Gorica Gajevic), judge Petar Magda fell ill and had to be urgently taken to a hospital for a dialysis. That apparently helped and the elections in those places where Socialist candidates (Ljubomir Ilkic, Brana Djurdjev and others) had lost were annulled. "Zajedno" coalition legal team led by prof. Dragor Hiber, lodged appeals on those decisions, since they do not comply with current laws. The court still hasn't replied to those appeals; it is probably waiting for the outcome of the demonstrations in the rest of Serbia.
Immediately before the third round of elections, the political climate in Vrsac suddenly became harsher. "Sudden" arrival of two buses with government tax inspectors resulted in the "entertainment" for opposition members and candidates. It is interesting that even some Socialists, who do not agree with Ilkic's struggle for personal survival at any cost, were also targets of the "tax sweep".
Fliers introducing Socialist candidates were distributed all over the town. The fliers warned the citizens not to vote for "scoundrels and terrorists who call for violence". On one of the fliers, SPS candidate claimed that "Hemofarm" [local company] supports his wife, that is Socialist/United Yugoslav Left (SPS/JUL) campaign. Having in mind apolitical orientation of "Hemofarm's" director, Babic, it is hard to explain this abuse of renowned company in support of an outrageous electoral procedure whose only purpose is to save Ilkic's political life.
In the third round Ilkic again lost, so the elections will be repeated for a fourth time. Electricity was switched off at one voting station, and in order to avoid any potential surprise in Vlajkovac, the district electoral commission added the necessary number of Socialist votes!? However, unsurpassed in its baseness was the attempt to recruit inmates of a psychiatric institution (the whole conversation was recorded on a cassette player) to vote for their physician, Dr. Bane Djurdjev, SPS/JUL candidate and the chief of the local JUL. Because of all these incidents, "Zajedno" has again lodged numerous criminal complaints.
Peaceful protests of citizens in Vrsac continue. Elected "Zajedno" representatives haven't given up and are demanding that the original election results from November 17 be reinstated. If that doesn't happen, they will return all of their mandates in the new town hall.