A flyer advertisingMilan Babić's campaign during the election
Presidential and parliamentary elections were held in the unrecognizedRepublic of Serbian Krajina on 12 December 1993, with a second round of the presidential election on 23 January 1994.Milan Martić of theSerb Party of Socialists (SPS) was elected president in the second round, defeating former presidentMilan Babić, while theSerb Democratic Party (SDS) won a plurality of the seats in parliament. ThenSerbian presidentSlobodan Milošević supported Martić's campaign and opposed Babić's.
Milošević had previously been in conflict with Babić over aUN-proposed ceasefire to end theCroatian War of Independence. Martić meanwhile supported Milošević's leadership in Serbia and in turn Milošević favoured Martić's victory in the presidential election.[1] Martić ran for theSerb Party of Socialists, which received significant financial support from Milošević'sSocialist Party of Serbia.[2] On 21 January 1994, Martić stated that he would "speed up the process of unification [with Serbia]" and "pass on the baton to our all-Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević."[3]
Rade Leskovac of theSerbian Radical Party came third in the first round of the presidential election and was eliminated. Martić came second in the first round with 54,000 fewer votes than Babić, but he went on to narrowly win the second round with 104,234 votes – 6,857 more than Babić.[4][5][6]
The SDS won 33 of the 85 seats in parliament; the result surprised many domestic observers, as the SPS had dominated the political scene in Serbian Krajina thanks to the efforts of Milošević. Martić formally challenged the results in a few constituencies, but they were ultimately dismissed.[7]
^Svarm, Filip (17 January 1994)."The Struggle for Television".Vreme News Digest Agency. No. 121.Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved10 December 2022.
^"Милан Мартић председник" [Milan Martić, President](PDF).www.glassrpske.com (in Serbian). 27 January 1994. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 6 July 2022. Retrieved15 August 2022.
