Thousands of protesters gathered outside the Serbian government headquarters in Belgrade on Saturday to rally against corruption, after the overwhelming election victory of Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić.
The protesters, mainly students, stood outside the National Assembly building for the sixth day in a row, blowing whistles and banging pots, AP reported.
But despite the daily rallies, protesters claim they are not receiving widespread coverage due to a media blackout.
Protesters have called Mr Vučić, who has been Prime Minister of Serbia since 2014, an autocrat, and have accused the Serbian Progressive Party (SPP) of corruption and of being instrumental in what they say was a fraudulent election.
Mr Vučić, 47, won the presidential election last Sunday with 55 per cent of the vote, according to the state election commission’s preliminary results data. He will succeed current President Tomislav Nikolić.
Aleksandar Vučić is expected to assume office on 31 May (Reuters)
The runner-up, former rights advocate Sasa Jankovic claimed only 16 per cent of the votes.
The presidency in Serbia is considered to be largely ceremonial, but protesters fear that Mr Vučić will maintain a tight grip on power as the leader of the SPP.
Protesters have also accused the media regulator and top editors of the state-owned RTS TV for allegedly failing to facilitate a free and fair vote.
Massive Anti-Vucic protests take place across Serbia tonight.
Najmasovniji protest večeras bio je u Novom Sadu. #protest #izbori2017 #Vučić pic.twitter.com/ZNyl6Ui7Iz — IGOR BESERMENJI (@IGORBESERMENJI) April 7, 2017
“We are here to demand more democracy, an end to Vučić’s dictatorial regime and a better future, more jobs and a better education system,” said Djordje Peric, 21, according to Reuters.
Government officials claim the demonstrations are organised by opposition leaders – an accusation that they have denied.
The opposition alleges the vote was marred by “irregularities”, including muzzling of the media, as well as voter intimidation and bribes on election day.
Thousands have been protesting against corruption since the election last Sunday (EPA)
Serbia ranks 59th out of 180 countries in the 2016 Press Freedom Index report compiled by Reporters Without Borders.
Media freedom in Serbia has “declined ever since Aleksandar Vučić, Slobodan Milosevic’s former information minister, became Prime Minister in May 2014,” the organisation says on its website.
It adds that media outlets in the country face “financial and editorial” pressures, with “hostile” media being subject to frequent arbitrary financial and administrative inspections. It also says journalists who are critical of the government are often publicly attacked.
‘People are hungry and elite celebrate,’ one protest sign reads (EPA)
Protests over the election have also been held in several other towns throughout the country.
Mr Vučić is expected to assume office on 31 May, 2017.
ModestMegalomaniac on April 9th, 2017 at 18:31 UTC »
I was an international election observer for the OSCE during the presidential elections in Serbia. Everything I write, however, will be purely my own opinion and it does not necessarily reflect the views of OSCE or ODIHR. A final report can be found here once all data has been compiled and interpreted. I do not know when this will be done. http://www.osce.org/office-for-democratic-institutions-and-human-rights/elections/serbia/303286 In my opinion, these people have a more than valid reason for protesting. The control Vučić has over the media is astounding. During the 10 days I was in Serbia, I saw maybe 10-20 posters of one other candidate. Everything else was purely pictures of Vučić. 3 days before the election, every major newspaper was bought by Vučić. One example I remember clearly is the newspaper Politika, where not only the front and back were advertising Vučić, but every page in the newspaper had an ad for either him or his party, except the obituaries. Vučić was the minister of information under Marjanović between 1998 and 2000. He has a history of repressing the free media, and although he has publicly stated he has changed, the situation on the ground has not. Many journalists I have spoken to say information freedom has never been worse in Serbia. If someone publishes something critical of important figures/the government, they will have most of their funding taken from them and have their employees threatened. This is done by either directly stopping them from getting advertisments in their publications, or by intimidating any business who buys ad space in that particular publication. Beyond that, there are rumors of votes being sold and government employees being threatened with job termination if they and their families didn't vote for Vučić. I have not personally seen this, but I wouldn't have been in any position to. The fact that it was happening is viewed as common knowledge by many people in Serbia. There is also the problem of Vučić de facto controlling both the executive and legislative branches of government. The president has much less power than the prime minister, so it makes no sense for Vučić to switch jobs. Since Vučić will still control the majority of the parliament, he has de facto merged the two offices. I fear he might try to "pull a Putin", as it were. With that said, I have no doubt Vučić recieved a lot of legitimate votes. No other candidate could have won, all this just tipped the scales very heavily in favor of Vučić so they didn't have to go through with a second round of elections. For those that don't know, if no candidate breaks 50% of the vote, a second round is held where the 2 candidates with most votes go toe-to-toe. Vučić has massive support amongst the elderly and the relatively uneducated. That, coupled with large amounts of political apathy and hopelessness among the Serbian people, assured him victory from the start. If anyone has any questions, I'll do my best to answer them. But remember, I'm not a high-tier official or anything, I was just a grunt going around observing polling stations.
ImNotGaySoStopAsking on April 9th, 2017 at 13:01 UTC »
Background for those unfamiliar with the situation: >Mr Vučić, 47, won the presidential election last Sunday with 55 per cent of the vote >The opposition alleges the vote was marred by “irregularities”, including muzzling of the media, as well as voter intimidation and bribes on election day. >Protesters have called Mr Vučić, who has been Prime Minister of Serbia since 2014, an autocrat, and have accused the Serbian Progressive Party (SPP) of corruption and of being instrumental in what they say was a fraudulent election.
_realitycheck_ on April 9th, 2017 at 12:22 UTC »
Good for you Serbia. You had a stream of shit from your leaders since Molosevic. It's amazing to see that your people had had enough. Congrats from the neighbor.