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Monday 23 Dec 2024
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LOCAL EDITION
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has announced an early parliamentary election, in an apparent attempt to defuse large protests against his rule in the wake of two mass shootings that shook the nation. (Photo/AFP)
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has announced an early parliamentary election, in an apparent attempt to defuse large protests against his rule in the wake of two mass shootings that shook the nation.
“Now it’s clear that we will have early parliamentary elections,” Vucic said in an address to the nation on Wednesday, flanked by his close political ally, Prime Minister Ana Brnabic.
“I’m ready to resign, my resignation is on the table,” Brnabic said.
Vucic did not announce a date for the elections but said after Brnabic resigns from the assembly, he must offer the mandate to someone else within the next 30 days.
"This means that we are soon going to dissolve the Serbian parliament because there are deadlines," said Vucic.
Most of the opposition parties have rejected holding an election.
Demands to step down
Tens of thousands of people have rallied in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade, even as Vucic rejected any responsibility for the crisis and ignored the protesters’ demands to step down.
He said the protesters were using the mass shootings to come to power without an election, saying that even if that means killing him and his family.
The opposition protesters, who are planning to hold another demonstration for this weekend, have been demanding the resignations of senior government officials and the revocation of broadcasting licenses for two pro-government television networks which, they say, promote violence and glorify crime figures.
The opposition has also accused Vucic of fuelling intolerance and hate speech during his rule, while Vucic has denied this, claiming that opposition groups want him toppled by force.
The two shootings on May 3 and 4 stunned the nation, because the first one happened in an elementary school in central Belgrade, when a 13-year-old boy took his father’s gun and opened fire on his fellow students.
Eight students and a school guard were killed and seven more people wounded. One more girl later died in hospital from head wounds.
A day later, a 20-year-old used an automatic weapon to randomly target people in two villages south of Belgrade, killing eight people and wounding 14.
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Source: TRT
