The election campaign began on 28 September, when the president of the National Assembly called for the elections to be held. protesting against unfair treatment of the opposition on the RTB. SPS and its precursor had already adopted nationalist rhetoric when Milošević came to power in 1987.
NIN described the campaign as taking place under "extraordinarily dramatic circumstances" (
izvanredno dramatičnim okolnostima).
The New York Times called the election conclusive because of Serbia's role within Yugoslavia, while the
Los Angeles Times stated that "the election also provides a last chance for Yugoslavia to reconsider its headlong rush toward disintegration and civil war". According to the
Toronto Star, the elections "may determine, to a large extent, the future make-up or breakup of Yugoslavia", while
The Washington Post said that "the survival of Yugoslavia may well be at stake" in the Serbian elections. Shortly before the election, the
San Francisco Chronicle predicted that Serbia "is expected to remain staunchly Communist" after the elections.
The Seattle Times considered the presidential election to be the most important one that year in Yugoslavia. By the end of the campaign, the Serbian opposition, Croatia, Slovenia, and Western countries viewed Drašković as a more acceptable option as president than Milošević. The also expressed its support for SPS, stating that "SPS is the only party that can oppose the right-wing and nationalist elements and mediaeval darkness, Albanian separatism, and
Vojvodina autonomism" (
SPS je jedina stranka koja se može susprotstaviti desničarskoj i nacionalističkoj stihiji i srednjovekovnom mraku, albanskom separatizmu i vojvođanskom autonomaštvu).
Slogans The table below lists slogans that political parties employed during the campaign. Mićunović said that "that slogan spoke of our desire to say that we were wrong a lot, so it's time to decide wisely" (
ta parola je govorila o našoj želji da kažemo da smo dosta grešili, pa je vreme da prelomimo pametno). "Since the first pluralist parliamentary elections in 1990, the media presentation of the elections was not adapted to the needs of the voters, but to the needs of the parties, and above all to the needs of the ruling party" (
Od prvih pluralističkih parlamentarnih izbora 1990. godine, medijska prezentacija izbora nije bila prilagođena potrebama birača, već potrebama partija, i pre svega potrebama vladajuće partije), Matić said. SPS controlled the majority of television and radio stations, as well as newspapers. Mićunović, unlike Drašković, was not a presidential candidate and hence faced fewer media attacks. Candidates were given 90 minutes of television airtime on RTB, with the first 30 allocated minutes reserved for how candidates wished to present themselves. Mila Štula, a RTB journalist, also characterised Drašković as "a man with a clerical and
Khomeini mentality who is also unsuitable for the head of state because he has no children" (
čoveka pisarskog i homeinijevskog mentaliteta, koji je uz to nepogodan za vođu države jer nema dece). While Milošević was invited to give a presentation on RTB, he refused to do so because the timeslot for his presentation would replace the play (Thessalonians speak). Miloš Vasić, a former
Politika journalist, said that the "news coverage has been especially distorted during campaigning" and that "[Ante] Marković's party was completely ignored". The campaign was met with high social polarisation and fear, as well as politically motivated incidents. Slobodan Ivanović, an SPO activist, was killed in
Dubnica, near
Vranje, by a SPS supporter while campaigning just before the campaign ended on 5 December. The majority of respondents wanted to remain in a federal Yugoslavia. In the December poll, this issue was agreed upon by 39% of the respondents, with environmental issues ranking second.
Timeline On 12 September, UOS held a protest in Belgrade, which was attended by about 50,000 demonstrators. Drašković and his SPO were the first to initiate a boycott on 2 October. SPO proclaimed a boycott on the grounds that the election would be unfair, and demanded that it be rescheduled for 27 December. Mićunović and
Zoran Đinđić were opposed to a boycott; Mićunović said that, in case of a boycott, opposition parties would "leave a clear space for the existing government, and we would deprive our own sympathisers of the opportunity to choose" (
ostavljamo čist prostor postojećoj vlasti, a sopstvene simpatizere lišavamo mogućnosti da biraju).
Dragan Veselinov, the president of NSS, said that his party would take part in the elections, while the NRS was also opposed to a boycott. In-mid November, discussions about an election boycott intensified. They were also concerned about potential vote fraud if they chose to participate. By 25 November, around 40 parties had announced their decision to boycott the election. The government of Serbia believed that a boycott would undermine international acceptance of the election results; Milošević also criticised parties that proclaimed the boycott. He accused the "rightist conservatives and often dark forces" (
desnih konzervativnih i često sasvim mračnih snaga) of trying to bring Serbia "to the past, to bring it into chaos" (
u prošlost, da je uvuku u haos). The government eventually accepted the recommendations on 26 November, and the boycott was cancelled. However, the government refused to postpone the elections to 23 December or permit overseas Serbians to vote. Drašković said that "some effort was made towards a reasonable solution" (
učinjen je izvestan napor ka razumnom rešenju) and that SPO would not boycott the elections. He earned the moniker "King of the Squares" (
kralj trgova) for his inflammatory and provocative rhetoric during the election campaign; He also backed free-market capitalism and the restoration of the monarchy. "Anyone who, in this land of
Raška, holds a Turkish flag, an Ustaša flag, an Albanian flag, or anyone else's flag except the Serbian flag, will be left without a hand and without a flag" (
svaki onaj ko u ruku, ovom Raškom zemljom, stegne turski barjak, ustaški barjak, albanski barjak ili bilo čiji drugi barjak sem srpskog, ostaće i bez ruke i bez barjaka), Drašković said. In early November, Yugoslav Prime Minister Ante Marković and his SRSJ criticized the SPO, labeling it a greater threat than Milošević. By the end of the campaign, Drašković moderated his rhetoric, and said that he would negotiate with Croatia and Slovenia to avoid Yugoslavia's disintegration. While he was opposed to the breakup of Yugoslavia, he favoured the concept of
Greater Serbia.
Democratic Party Mićunović stated that DS campaigned with limited infrastructure and was forced to use only direct methods of campaigning. Furthermore, they took a moderate approach towards Kosovo, opting to negotiate with Kosovo Albanians and wishing to preserve the Yugoslav federation. DS received support from intellectuals during the election. In its first programme, issued in October, SPS stated that "Serbia as a
socialist republic, founded on law and social justice" was its goal. Nevertheless, SPS relied heavily on a combination of nationalism and social demagogy in its rhetoric. While campaigning in early November, Milošević criticised the opposition: "That path to a modern society and a developed society is incompatible with any mystical messages, which like ghosts of the past circulate in some parts of Serbia and which various false prophets and madmen offer to the Serbian people as a pledge of the future" (
Taj put u moderno društvo i razvijeno društvo nespojiv je sa bilo kakvim mističkim porukama, koje kao aveti prošlosti kruže u nekim delovima Srbije i koje razni lažni proroci i ludaci nude srpskom narodu kao zalog budućnosti). Throughout the rest of the month, he intensified his presidential campaign. After the rally, the supporters were bussed back home.
Others Among the numerous opposition groups and politicians who rose to prominence during the campaign, the
Association for the Yugoslav Democratic Initiative (UJDI) expressed its opposition to confederalism, instead advocating an accord on the formation of a multi-party Assembly of Yugoslavia. He was later released but soon re-imprisoned on October 23 for 45 days for allegedly attempting to recruit volunteers for Croatia's Log Revolution. In the election, she was nominated on behalf of a citizens group. Out of all independent candidates for the parliamentary election, Milićević campaigned on improving
children's rights and the rights of the elderly, as well as expanding the number of kindergartens, schools, and parks. UOS was officially formalised on 11 December. Due to its heterogeneous nature, UOS only advocated for the establishment of parliamentarism and the introduction of a proportional representation system. == Opinion polls ==