Students demand resignations or the protests continue
Students of the University of Novi Sad who are protesting against Serbian government stated on Wednesday that they have finally made a list of their demands.
Students from Novi Sad wrote on their Facebook page that they will continue protesting until all members of Republic Electoral Committee (REC) and president of Serbian Assembly Maja Gojkovic are dismissed.
They also demand resignation of directors and editors in chief of Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) and Radio Television of Vojvodina (RTV) alongside dismissal of all members of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media. After the announcement, students in Belgrade joined their colleagues in demands.
The protests in Serbia started on Monday, a day after the presidential elections in which the current Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic won with 55 per cent of the popular vote.
However, the protesters, mainly students and youth, are protesting the atmosphere under which the election was conducted. They claim that PM Vucic abused his position to win the election.
According to the research of Belgrade based Bureau for Social Research, PM Vucic had 92 percent of time on national TV stations while other 10 candidates combined had 8 percent.
Before the election, the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media stated it would not monitor the campaign for presidency, even though they are obliged by law to do so.
Students also point out that the REC did not act in accordance to the decision of Constitutional Court when it comes to voting in Kosovo.
In addition, they claim that if their demands are not met, they will insist on parliamentary snap elections and the protests will continue.
President of the Assembly, Maja Gojkovic, commented the students’ protests and demands on Wednesday, saying that everyone has the right of opinion.
“Serbia is a democratic country in which every citizen has the right to express his/her discontent through peaceful protest,” said Gojkovic. However, she criticized the protesters for spraying the sculpture of horses and men in front of the Assembly.
Students are demanding her resignation because Gojkovic made a decision in the beginning of March to close the Assembly during the presidential campaign.
The leader of opposition Democratic Party, Dragan Sutanovac, told Insajder that the main quality of the growing protests is having no political party behind it.
“Our party’s youth is in the streets, but they are not involved in the organization of the protests in any way,” said Sutanovac.
The leader of DS and former Minister of Defense said that it is “a pity that this kind of protests has not happened before.”
“These protests clearly show the general conditions in society and especially the youth’s discontent with human rights, media, and institutions in Serbia,” concluded Sutanovac.
Even though all the opposition parties claim that they are not involved in the protests, the Police Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said on Wednesday that the protests are political and “against the proper election campaign and will of the people.”
“These protests are political. They are not legal given that the organizers did not register the protests at the police. Despite that, the police are not reacting,” said Stefanovic to Pink TV.
The protests are held in Belgrade, Nis, Novi Pazar, Kragujevac, Subotica, Kraljevo, Bor, Leskovac, Vranje, Cacak, and other cities in Serbia.
Milivoje Pantovic