Thousands protested in Belgrade to demand the annulment of elections. An anti-government demonstration took place on Sunday in the central business district of Belgrade. The demonstration aimed to demand the annulment of the unfair parliamentary and local elections a week ago.

According to early findings from the state election commission, the populist Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), now in power, received 46.72 percent of the votes cast in the snap parliamentary elections over the weekend.

A monitoring mission from the international community stated on Monday that the Social Networking Service (SNS) had obtained an unfair advantage due to prejudice in the media, unlawful influence from President Aleksandar Vucic, and voting irregularities such as vote-buying.

Vucic stated that the elections were conducted legally. A witness who spoke to Reuters claimed that the police used pepper spray on Sunday when a crowd attempted to break into the town hall in Belgrade, which houses the city’s local election commission. A few of the demonstrators scaled the stairs of the building and shattered the glass. People hurled stones at windows, causing the glass to shatter.

Demonstrators screamed, “Vucic thief,” again. The Ministry of the Interior issued a statement that urged demonstrators to “refrain from breaking into the town hall.”

“By reacting calmly, we are trying not to hurt protesters,” Vucic stated in the message in the early evening. In the election, the Socialist Party of Serbia came in third with 6.56% of the vote. In contrast, the opposition alliance Serbia Against Violence, a center-left coalition, came in second place with 23.56% of the vote.

While the audience yelled, “Get in, get in,” and “No surrender,” Srdjan Milivojevic and Vladimir Obradovic, members of the Serbia Against Violence coalition, attempted to open the town hall entrance but were unsuccessful. These individuals were unable to enter the building.

At around ten o’clock (2100 GMT), the anti-riot police moved protesters away from the town hall. Marinika Tepic, another Serbia Against Violence organization member, has been on a hunger strike since the elections.

Taipei’s former top diplomat in the United States and now frontrunner to become Taiwan’s next vice president stated on Friday that the governing party of Taiwan will not allow a conflict to break out with China but that China is responsible for stirring up tensions. “China is to blame for stirring up tensions,” the former diplomat said.

There will be presidential and legislative elections on January 13, defining the relationship between Beijing and Taiwan, which China claims. These elections are taking place at a time when China is increasing its military activity near Taiwan to establish its sovereignty claims.

China has criticized the incumbent vice president Lai Ching-te, the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) presidential candidate who is currently leading in the polls, for framing the election as a choice between war and peace. China has portrayed the election as a choice between war and peace, which Taiwan’s main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), has echoed.

Lai’s running partner, Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan’s high-profile former de facto ambassador to the United States, stated that her opponents have constantly accused the DPP of causing tensions in the Taiwan Strait during a live broadcast pre-election policy talk. The three vice presidential candidates delivered the address.

“However, the entire world is aware that the valid reason is that China has been pushing outward in an authoritarian posture for several years to alter the current international order and status quo. Hsiao commented that the buildup of China’s weaponry continued unabated even when the KMT was in power.

We are working to enhance our defenses to prevent conflict. The status quo of peace in the Taiwan Strait is something that Lai Ching-te and Hsiao Bi-khim advocate for, and I want to make it clear to my fellow citizens that we will not allow war to break out in the Taiwan Strait.

Jaw Shaw-kong, a fiery media personality and the vice presidential candidate for the Kuomintang (KMT), stated that his party was “absolutely not pro-China” as he was standing next to Jai.

Jaw, whose party has always supported strong ties with China, stated that the Democratic People’s Party (DPP) does not grasp mainland China and does not possess any understanding whatsoever of the Communist Party.

“The DPP are using the China threat as a chip to get them elected, to dupe the electorate.”

Jaw stated that Taiwan and China need to engage in discussion. He criticized the Democratic People’s Party (DPP) for failing to do so and pledged that the Kuomintang (KMT) would restart talks while also maintaining Taiwan’s defenses.

On several occasions, President Tsai Ing-wen and her cabinet, including Lai and Hsiao, have made numerous attempts to engage in dialogue with China while they were campaigning, but they have been unsuccessful.

The Chinese government has referred to the election as an “internal Chinese affair” and has referred to Lai and Hsiao as dangerous separatists.

According to the DPP and the KMT, Taiwan’s people are the only ones who can decide their destiny.

In her speech, Cynthia Wu, the vice presidential candidate for the Taiwan People’s Party, now in a distant second place in the polls, made very few references to China. Instead, she focused on internal problems, such as the necessity of establishing a sovereign wealth fund.

The people of Bhutan have chosen two political parties to compete in the nation’s fourth free election since the establishment of democracy fifteen years ago, according to the Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB) announcement on Friday. It is also worth noting that the party previously in power has been eliminated from the race.

Bhutan, located between China and India, is renowned for being the first country to calculate a Gross National Happiness (GNH) index. This index is an alternative economic measure that takes into account factors that estimates of gross domestic product typically ignore. These categories include recreational activities and emotional well-being.

According to the Electoral Commission of Bhutan (ECB), the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Bhutan Tendrel Party (BTP) received the most significant number of votes during the election’s preliminary round on Thursday.

Before the preliminary polls, there were a total of five political parties that competed.

The party now under the leadership of departing Prime Minister Lotay Tshering, Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa (DNT), came in fourth place, according to the ECB vote counts.

In preparation for the final round of voting, scheduled for January 9, the commission sent an invitation to both the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the BTP to “formally nominate one candidate each in all 47 National Assembly constituencies.”

PDP is a liberal organization that was established in 2007 and has constituted the government of Bhutan between the years 2013 and 2018. Tshering Tobgay, who had previously served as Prime Minister, is the current leader of the PDP.

Pema Chewang, a former bureaucrat, was the one who initiated the formation of the BTP in the year 2022.

According to both parties, the Himalayan monarchy’s economy, now worth $3 billion, requires further investment.

In addition, they have similar perspectives on several other subjects, including the expansion of agricultural production, hydroelectric power development, and unemployment.

Bhutan, a country with a primarily Buddhist population nearly the same size as Switzerland, has extensive economic and trade links with its southern neighbor, India, the country’s most significant contributor.