Local elections were held in Serbia (excluding Kosovo) on 24 September 2000, concurrently with the first round of voting in the 2000 Yugoslavian general election and the 2000 Vojvodina provincial election. This was the fourth and final local electoral cycle to take place while Serbia was a member of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
The 2000 Yugoslavian general election was a watershed event in Serbian politics, resulting in the downfall of Slobodan Milošević's administration. The local elections, while less important in their own right, were part of the same general transformative moment.
This was the final local electoral cycle in Serbia (to date) in which assembly delegates were elected in single-member constituencies; all subsequent cycles have been held under proportional representation. In a change from the previous cycle, delegates were elected by first-past-the-post voting rather than in run-off elections between the top two candidates. The method of election undoubtedly contributed to the lopsided results in some opposition strongholds, including the capital Belgrade.
The Democratic Opposition of Serbia (Demokratska opozicija Srbije, DOS), a broad and ideologically diverse coalition of parties opposed to the Milošević administration, won significant majority victories in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš, and other major cities. Candidates from the Democratic Party (Demokratska stranka, DS), one of the main parties in the coalition, claimed the mayoralties in several jurisdictions won by the DOS (although not in the City of Belgrade, where a series of representatives from other DOS parties held the mayor's office).
Results
Belgrade
Elections were held at the city level and in all of Belgrade's constituent municipalities. The Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) won a landslide victory in the election for the City Assembly of Belgrade and equally strong victories in many of the city's constituent municipalities. The alliance won every seat in three municipalities and all seats but one in three others.
The only Belgrade municipality that the DOS did not win was Sopot, where the Socialist Party of Serbia–Yugoslav Left won a majority government, helped by the presence of an incumbent mayor who was personally popular in the community.
Other than Sopot, the only municipality in Belgrade where the DOS did not win the popular vote was Lazarevac. It may be noted that the Socialist Party–Yugoslav Left alliance ran a full slate of candidates in this jurisdiction, while the DOS refrained from fielding candidates in three divisions (presumably due to pre-election arrangements with other opposition candidates).
City of Belgrade
Results of the election for the City Assembly of Belgrade:
Milan St. Protić of New Serbia (one of the parties in the Democratic Opposition of Serbia coalition) was chosen as mayor after the election. He resigned from the position on 20 March 2001 and was initially replaced on an interim basis by Dragan Jočić of the Democratic Party of Serbia. On 1 June 2001, Jočić was in turn replaced by Radmila Hrustanović of the Civil Alliance of Serbia.
Municipalities of Belgrade
Barajevo
Results of the election for the Municipal Assembly of Barajevo:
Zoran Jevtić of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia was chosen as mayor after the election. He resigned on 9 February 2001 and was replaced on an interim basis by Miodrag Skoknić. After an extended period in which the municipal assembly was not convened, Dragoljub Stanić was named as the head of a provisional administration in November 2001. A new municipal election was held in 2002.
Čukarica
Results of the election for the Municipal Assembly of Čukarica:
Incumbent mayor Zoran Alimpić of the Democratic Party was confirmed for another term in office after the election.
Grocka
Results of the election for the Municipal Assembly of Grocka:
Vesna Ivić of the Democratic Party was chosen as mayor after the election. He was replaced by Milan Tanasković of the Democratic Party of Serbia on 28 June 2002; Tanasković was in turn replaced by Sava Starčević of the Serbian Renewal Movement on 8 December 2002. After a further period of political upheaval, Vladan Zarić of the Democratic Party became mayor on 15 April 2003.
Lazarevac
Results of the election for the Municipal Assembly of Lazarevac:
Ljiljana Zdravković of the Democratic Party became mayor of the municipality in 2001.
Mladenovac
Results of the election for the Municipal Assembly of Mladenovac:
Zoran Kostić of the Democratic Party was chosen as mayor after the election.