Two large political gatherings will be held in Belgrade at the end of the week, with a mass rally to be held by President Aleksandar Vučić’s ruling SNS party on Friday and the anti-government “Serbia against violence” protests spearheaded by the opposition on Saturday.
Vučić announced that he would speak at Friday’s SNS rally as the country’s president, not as that of the party.
“I will be speaking as the president of the country and not as the president of SNS, which I will soon not be. People have been looking for someone to blame after two tragedies and the protests gathered many people who want something to change or for their children to be safer”, Vučić said.
“But those who follow political activities closely realise that politicians of the former regime and the opposition have tried to use that and schedule a gathering on other topics,” he added.
“I will speak to Serbia and give a long-term plan, not a political speech. I will present how I feel we can come out of all this. When there is a situation of crisis, when someone disputes legitimacy, elections are the best way”, he said.
Friday’s rally will be followed on Saturday by the fourth opposition-led anti-government “Serbia against violence” protest, which will start in front of the National Assembly and end in front of the national broadcaster RTS.
“We will form a ring around RTS, for it is a service of all Serbian citizens. We want all of Serbia to know the demands of the people protesting are”, Miroslav Aleksić from The People’s Party told a press conference in the National Assembly.
Aleksić also commented on the statements Vučić gave on RTS the previous evening.
“The president has manipulated the people of Serbia, misled them and tried to evade responsibility. He has not offered to discuss REM and cancelling reality TV, and he has nothing to offer us”, said Aleksić.
If the opposition’s demands are not met, protests are set to continue after 27 May, and people from all over Serbia will be invited to join, Aleksandar Jovanović Ćuta, copresident of opposition party Together (Zajedno), added.
Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić commented on the protest during an assembly session, stating that she has “no issue with protests against violence”.
“I don’t mind the protest. I don’t mind people unless they call for violence every day and then join a protest once a week”, Brnabić said.
(EURACTIV.rs | Bojana Zimonjić Jelisavac)
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