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Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Serbia's parliament erupts in chaos after opposition lawmakers hurl smoke, fire bombs
March 4 (UPI) -- Serbia's parliament erupted into chaos Tuesday as opposition lawmakers set off smoke grenades and other measures to block the last-minute passage of a series of laws initiated by the departing government. "We believe that an exiting government cannot propose laws," Radomir Lazovic of the Green-Left Front party said in remarks to the body prior to the release of flares and gas bombs, which led to thick clouds of red smoke filling the national assembly in Belgrade during its first spring session. Ana Brnabic, the speaker, refused to interrupt the session as fights broke out between members with two reported injured. Prime Minister Milos Vucevic resigned in January after nationwide public outrage and protests calling for accountability following the tragic collapse of a renovated train and bus station awning in November which killed 15 people in Novi Sad. "(The government) has to highest level of responsibility," he said in a Jan. 28 public address. "In order to not raise tensions in the society any further, I made the decision I just announced." Hundreds of thousands of citizens gathered nearly every day to block main roads or other acts, which protesters again did after congregating in front of the parliamentary building in the capital city following Tuesday's episode. "The uprising that lasts for months in the whole country has reached the parliament today," Aleksandra Tomanic, executive director of European Fund for the Balkans, posted on X. Meanwhile, the outgoing prime minister's resignation has yet to be approved by the Serbian parliament. On Tuesday, the outgoing Vucevic government proposed a string of laws to adopt which would grant concessions to student and youth protesters before the legislature acted on Vucevic's resignation effectively ending his administration. A new candidate must be approved by a vote of parliament but could trigger new elections a little more than a year after the last one if the ruling Serbian Progressive Party fails to get behind a new leader. Brnabic, of the same political party as Vucevic and the nation's president, called the opposition "thugs and terrorist bandits who want to block the work of the institutions," and claimed on Tuesday that MP Jasmina Obradović suffered a stroke stemming from the chaotic scene. "The woman is fighting for her life after you threw a flashbang at her," Brnabic stated. Serbia's populist President Aleksandar Vucic won a second term in office in April 2022 when his Serbian Progressive's received nearly 43% of the vote, based on 90% of ballots counted. It all arrived "after months of protests in the whole country and hundreds of thousands on the streets demanding justice for 15 dead and functioning institutions," the Balkan Fund's's Tomanic added.
Arab News
04-03-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Smoke grenades tossed in Serbian parliament, lawmaker suffers stroke
BELGRADE: Serbian opposition lawmakers threw smoke grenades and used pepper spray inside parliament on Tuesday to protest against the government and to support demonstrating students, with one legislator suffering a stroke during the chaos. Four months of student-led demonstrations, sparked by the deaths of 15 people when a railway station roof collapsed, have drawn in teachers, farmers and others to become the biggest threat yet to President Aleksandar Vucic's decade-long rule, with many denouncing rampant corruption and incompetence in government. At the legislative session, after the ruling coalition led by the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) approved the agenda, some opposition politicians ran from their seats toward the parliamentary speaker and scuffled with security guards. Others tossed smoke grenades and used pepper spray. A live TV broadcast showed black and pink smoke billowing inside the parliament, which has seen brawls before, in the decades since the introduction of multi-party democracy in 1990. Vucic later said authorities would hold all those deputies involved in the fracas to account, calling it 'hooliganism.' Under Serbian law, parliamentary deputies enjoy immunity from prosecution but can lose it if they commit serious crimes. POLITICIAN HURT Speaker Ana Brnabic said three lawmakers were injured and one, Jasmina Obradovic of the SNS party, had suffered a stroke and was hospitalized. Zlatibor Loncar, the Health Minister later said Obradovic was in a serious condition. As the session continued, ruling coalition politicians debated while opposition lawmakers whistled and blew horns. Opposition deputies also held signs reading 'general strike' and 'justice for those killed,' referring to those who died when the station roof collapsed in the city of Novi Sad last November. Outside parliament hundreds of protesters stood in silence to honor those killed. Protest leaders called for a major rally in the capital Belgrade on March 15. The ruling coalition says Western intelligence agencies are trying to destabilize Serbia and topple the government by backing the protests. 'We have a proposal ... to have a transitional government,' Radomir Lazovic of the opposition Green-Left Front told supporters in front of the parliament. The opposition says a transitional government should secure conditions for free and fair elections, but Vucic and his allies have so far rejected that demand. 'This was a failed attempt of the ruling coalition to show it is in control ..., and (there's) a potential for an escalation,' Radivoje Grujic, a Warsaw-based consultant told Reuters, commenting on the parliamentary session. Parliament was due to adopt a law increasing funds for universities — one of the main demands of protesting students. But other items put on the agenda by the ruling coalition including the one about noting the resignation of Prime Minister Milos Vucevic angered the opposition. The session has been adjourned and is due to resume on Wednesday.
