WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
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AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS
Dissatisfied with the regime that survives on corruption, a large number of students and citizens in Belgrade, Niš, Novi Sad, Pirot, Vranje, Subotica, Bor...., at the same time blocked the main intersections and bridges, carried the same slogans, shouted: "pump", "don't let anyone give up", "tension must not drop", "call elections, coward".
Exactly seven months after the collapse of the canopy in Novi Sad, during three-hour protests across Serbia under the slogan "Rise of Serbia", the demonstrators demanded the calling of early parliamentary elections and announced the radicalization of the protests, i.e. the blockade of state institutions.
Letter
"We have been seeking justice for more than six months, we have walked hundreds, driven thousands of kilometers and awakened the people to fight for their beliefs", states the letter that the students read in all cities at the same time.
They state that they have initiated the largest wave of student demonstrations in Europe in the last 50 years, held the largest protest rallies in the history of Serbia, and restored hope for a better tomorrow and faith in a just society. That is why they are demanding the restoration of democratic accountability “through the only channel available - the will of the people.”
They state that corruption is deep in the state apparatus and that is why their demands cannot be met.
“We have addressed the institutions responsible for our demands, and we have received the most heinous insults, beatings, belittling, and tear gas,” the letter states. That is why, they say, they will “launch civil disobedience protests in all cities” with the message: “Serbia has risen and will stand until final victory. We will not allow the normal functioning of a system that ignores the will of citizens: we will hinder lies, injustice, and corruption, not citizens,” the letter states.
Candidates and program
Students who are the backbone of the six-month demonstrations across Serbia and according to research are currently the strongest political force in the country – have announced the conditions that candidates on the electoral list they will support must meet.
The list includes adult Serbian citizens who must not be students. Candidates cannot be those who have ever been members of the ruling coalition, officials of the parliamentary opposition, or members of the executive or legislative branches, and must respect the students' program.
The program explains in detail what the students are advocating for: first, they demand the fulfillment of their demands, which have kept the faculties on lockdown for six months. They demand that future MPs advocate for solutions to the existing problems they have been facing since the SNS came to power, and they demand: freedom of the media, free and fair elections, an independent and efficient judiciary and prosecution, a state without corruption and organized crime, military neutrality, and the preservation of the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity that will not conflict with national interests.
Students and the rector again fail to reach an agreement on the start of classes
The fourth meeting of the University of Belgrade management, student representatives from all faculties and the dean, ended without any agreement on the start of classes, except that negotiations will take place in the coming days.
Expectations for the meeting were high because it was requested by students who have been deliberating for three weeks on the platform "For the salvation of the university", which was drawn up by the rectorate. It, among other things, envisages the start of online classes and daily two-hour protests. This platform would save the university from further pressure from the regime that insists that classes start, but also from professors and faculties who have not received money for two months - because of this, most faculties are in huge debt and have difficulty functioning.
It is worrying that students are not responding to warnings from the dean and professors that June 9 is the last deadline for classes to start so that the summer semester ends on October 31 and the next academic year begins on November 1.
The students took a hard position in the negotiations because none of the four demands that were presented on November 28 last year were fulfilled by the government.
