Party re-registration process under way in Serbia

BELGRADE, Serbia

The process to re-register political parties, as spelled out under a new law, begins Thursday (July 23rd). All parties will now have six months to collect enough signatures for registration, at a far higher threshold than before: 10,000 for a mainstream party and 1,000 for parties representing minorities. The aim is to reduce the number of parties from about 600 currently to a far more manageable 20 to 30 within a couple of election cycles. Some smaller parties say they will challenge the law before the Constitutional Court, insisting it restricts pluralism.