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Deutsche Welle echoes mass protests against Vučić: People want justice

2024-12-23 16:54:29Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Deutsche Welle echoes mass protests against Vučić: People want justice
Protest in Belgrade

100,000 people have demonstrated in the center of Belgrade, students and other citizens, against Vučić and his government. The protests are shaking the Serbian government, how to proceed.

Over 100,000 people gathered in central Belgrade on Sunday (December 22nd), announced the Archive of Public Gatherings, which deals with counting and calculating the number of demonstrators at various rallies.

This makes this the largest rally in Serbia since October 5, 2000, when Milosevic was overthrown from power. While the police speak of 30 thousand participants, this was also said by the Serbian President, Aleksandar Vučić.

It is clear that the call of the students who are blocking the faculties was answered by a large number of citizens, who were also joined in the protest by farmers. The massiveness of the protests is the most striking element, while the main hope of the authorities was the gradual extinction of the student protests, which began a few weeks ago.

The protest passed without major incidents, but during the day it was evident that the government was trying in various ways to prevent a larger reaction from citizens. Thus, trains to Belgrade and buses were deliberately stopped.

Paranoia was also evident during the "tractor arrest" of Zlatko Kokanović, by the "Ne damo Jadar" (We Don't Give Up Jadar) initiative. He was blocked near Slavija Square, while the police impounded the tractor for allegedly illegal parking.

And as citizens were preparing for the protest, Vučić opened the section of the highway from Kruševci to Vrnjčka Banja during the day, while careful observers did not miss the fact that the president was accompanied by American ambassador Christopher Hill.

Vučić reiterated his stance that "I will not hand over power to anyone without an election, there is no son of a mother who will take it without an election as long as I am alive. You can kill me, but without an election you will not take power". In the evening, Aleksandar Vučić gave a speech in which he said that "an exceptionally large rally was held in Belgrade. They are oriented towards the opposition, but I have always been ready to listen to what others think", Vučić said. But he stressed that "under the Serbian flag we must unite around the fundamental goals".

There is no withdrawal.

The mass protest was the culmination of weeks of blockades of universities and high schools in Serbia. "This rally fulfilled expectations," Dragan Popović, director of the Center for Practical Politics, told DW. "It was a practical demonstration of support for the students' demands. It also showed that when there is good organization and when there is a large turnout, there are no incidents, beatings, or attempts to violently break up the rally," Popović stressed. According to him, the authorities were shown that people "want justice."

"Tragedies are happening here that are the result of state inaction. I think Novi Sad is the last drop in the cup. Such a massive gathering is a very clear message to the authorities that the pain has reached the core. "We have our backs to the wall, there is no room for retreat," he adds.

The political articulation of the protest

Since the beginning of the student protests, their distancing from political parties has been noticeable. But most of the opposition supports the students' demands. Now the main question is: How much longer can the pressure be exerted on the government and how will the student protests end? Popovic says that the protests must at some point be articulated politically, if we want change. "There are different ideas, but without a well-organized political opposition I do not see any possibility of a solution. The opposition must be ready because at some point this will have to be capitalized on politically. The government will quell the protests, but I think this energy will not be extinguished easily," Popovic told DW.

Two (un)possible scenarios

Currently, two possible scenarios are being crystallized: a general strike and a transitional government. The President of Serbia categorically rejects the possibility of a transitional government. Meanwhile, a general strike is also questionable, because in Serbia there are many unions that are divided among themselves. For Vučić, a transitional government would be an acknowledgment of capitulation, so he will certainly not accept it. While the other scenarios have not yet crystallized how they can be realized. But the energy for protests is still great, and is even increasing. /DW


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