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Tens of thousands poured into a central square Serbia capital on Sunday for a big rally against populist president Aleksandar Vucic and his government, whose tight grip on power has been challenged by weeks of street protests led by university students.
The rally on Slavija Square in Belgrade, one of the biggest in recent years, was called by students and farmers’ unions. It was part of a wider movement that called for accountability on November 1 collapse of an awning at a railway station in the north of the country that killed 15 people.
Smaller rallies were also held in the cities of Nis and Kragujevac. The rally in Belgrade began with a 15-minute silence for the victims, and later chants of “You have blood on your hands!” heard
Many in Serbia blame the collapse widespread corruption and sloppy work on the station building in the city of Novi Sad that was renovated twice in recent years as part of questionable mega-projects involving Chinese state-owned companies. Protesters demand that Vucic and those responsible be justified.
Serbia’s popular theater and film actors joined the protest, with actor Bane Trifunovic describing Sunday’s rally as “a festival of freedom.”
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In a show of confidence, the Serbian president inaugurated a section of a newly constructed highway in central Serbia on Sunday. Vucic said he would not give in to opposition demands for a transitional government and accused his opponents of using students to try to seize power.
“We will beat them again,” Vucic said. “They (the opposition) don’t know what to do when someone uses their children.”
Prosecutors arrested 13 people about the Novi Sad tragedy, including a government minister whose release later fueled public skepticism about the fairness of the investigation.
The weeks-long protests reflect broader discontent with Vucic’s rule. The populist leader formally says he wants to take Serbia into the European Union, but faces accusations of restricting democratic freedoms instead of progress.
Opposition parties have said that a transitional government that would prepare a free and fair election would be a way out of the political tensions as ruling populists have also been accused of manipulating past votes.
Serbia’s government has extended school winter holidays by starting them almost a week earlier to contend with widespread student protests.
Classes at universities across the Balkan country have been suspended for weeks with students camping out in their faculty buildings. In the past few days, more high school students have joined the movement. Occasionally violence has broken out when pro-government citizens tried to disrupt the protests.
A group of farmers said on Sunday that the police took away the tractor they drove into central Belgrade for the protest. In addition to the farmers, Serbia’s students have also received national support from all walks of life, including their professors, media personalities, lawyers and prominent figures.
Vucic initially accused the students of launching protests for money, but later said he has met their demands, including publishing documentation regarding the renovation work at the Novi Sad station.
& copy 2024 The Canadian Press
