Serbia opposition under fire for smoke and protest in Parliament

Cleaning workers cleaned the discussion room before the deputies arrived at the Wednesday session in the National Assembly in Serbia.

Smoke bombs, egg yolk swabs and dust from white fire extinguisher powder were removed from seats and tables after chaos the day before.

The police were also at the scene.

They were gathering evidence of possible criminal charges against deputies who sank parliament in a group of pink and black smoke because they wrapped up signs accusing the government of corruption.

Serbian President Alexander Fotic described the scenes of “rioters”. He said he was “looking for responsibility and criminal law” to be applied.

Three female deputies were injured. One of them was injured on the back of his head by an object, although it is not clear who threw him, and it appears that another suffered a stroke.

The European Union said Parliament must be a place for democratic discussion And he was very worried.

The opposition party deputies were not shy.

Radomer Lazovich, the co -captain of the green left facade, had brought out a fire extinguisher from his seat in the room.

He described the intervention as “a response to the violence committed against the citizens of Serbia for 13 years.”

This covers the period when the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) was in power.

Under the leadership of Vcic – who previously served as Deputy Prime Minister and Prime Minister – the party was a machine that won the elections.

SNS appeared victorious for at least five parliamentary elections since it formed the first ruling coalition in 2012.

Its opponents claim that the matter is related to the party’s dominance over the media and state institutions in Serbia more than its policies.

But Vocic has succeeded in displaying a picture of a strong and effective leadership that appeals to a large percentage of voters in Serbia – especially outside the main urban areas.

He has survived many protest movements over the years. All of them fade without the president or his party removed.

But the current series of gatherings, demonstrations and referee provides an unusually difficult challenge.

The flow of anger with the November disaster began at the Novi Sad Railways Station – when a concrete umbrella collapsed in the recently renovated facility, killing 15 people.

The station was part of the government’s main infrastructure project – the high -speed railway linking the capital, Belgrade, Budapest in Hungary. Deadly failure in such a prominent site in anger and anger – and struck suspicions that official corruption was behind the collapse.

Students lead calls for transparency and accountability, as they keep 15 -minute on the occasion of the dead. But workers, from lawyers to farmers, were spreading strikes and preventing roads.

“Everyone has an unhappy reason,” says analyst and journalist Bogan to you. “Terrible salaries, bad working conditions – everyone had to add to the great dissatisfaction that is in the population.

“But the students were the main coherent factor.”

Unless students are political. They have kept opposition parties and NGOs away from their increasingly complex events, which they have seen taking over the positions of Novi Sad and NIS in recent weeks.

Mr. Elek describes this as a “good step” – but he notes that “at some point, politics should enter into play.”

How this might seem unclear yet. The opposition parties are an atom – with no one -party capable of challenging SNS, and the absence of a reliable alliance.

At least they were united in their calls for the establishment of a technical government after Prime Minister Milus Vucevic at the end of January.

This, as they suggest, may create an electoral environment that would reduce SNS’s dominance on the media and government agencies.

VCIC rejected this idea as an attempt to oppose a legitimate elected government. He may appoint an alternative prime minister or summon new elections, although previous opinion polls were recently held in December 2023.

Meanwhile, the protests continue. Students have promised the largest so far in Belgrade on March 15.