Torch and PP apparatus in the National Assembly

The first session of the regular spring session Assembly of Serbia it was the same as before Serbia she hasn't seen in the last 35 years. Will it significantly affect the future political life of Serbia?

The government will after what happened - unsuccessfully opposition attempts to prevent the holding of the session by lighting torches, throwing smoke bombs and making noise - to insist that opposition MPs are violent, terrorists and Kurtists. They also injured three women. On the other hand, the opposition will be able to say that it tried something and showed that it is still alive.

photo: marija janković

HIGH RISK SESSION

In the midst of flare-up of student protests, the session of the assembly was inherently "risky" and none of the actors missed the chance to "justify the expectations" of all those who announced the "spectacle".

The session was preceded by the largest protest to date, held over the weekend in Nis. But, it seems, Serbian politicians did not understand the message of the students who have been in protest and blockade for more than 100 days. At the same time, Aleksandar Vučić told Vučić on his tour that he was preparing a counter-revolution and that in this way he would end the protests in Serbia.

Ana Brnabić invited the representatives of parliamentary groups for consultations last week, but the opposition refused that invitation, because "there is nothing to agree on while the student protests are going on". Ana Brnabić listed dozens of proposed laws on the agenda, the most important of which is the amendment to the Law on Higher Education, which should be the fulfillment of the fourth student demand.

This was the government's trick: here, we are ready to conduct a dialogue and we want to do everything that leads to the fulfillment of the students' demands. So, another maneuver by which the otherwise well-known opposition should be further separated from students and citizens.

The opposition, divided and disjointed, without self-confidence and with a lot of mutual suspicion, did not have much space. If they are not in the parliament, they exclude themselves, and if they are in the parliament - they give legitimacy to the government.

photo: printscreen rts

TORCHES AND SMOKE BOMBS

How did it start? The opposition first announced that they would stay in the hall and hold press conferences for half an hour, but later entered the meeting hall and at the beginning it seemed that they would participate to some extent in the discussion.

However, the riot started when the representatives of the resigned government were to enter the hall - that's when torches and smoke bombs flew, and there was an uproar, noise, pushing and mutual slapping of members of the opposition and the government. Three MPs were injured, and the government immediately presented it as an assassination attempt. In the coming days and months, this will be the regime's rhetorical weapon if it does not show the violent and thuggish nature of the opposition MPs.

The session was interrupted for a moment, smoke filled the hall. However, the President of the National Assembly Ana Brnabić quickly appeared in her seat and after a "motivational speech" announced that the session would continue.

That's what happened. For the next several hours, the members of the majority "gave speeches" or "discussed the items on the agenda" participating in a "joint discussion". It was repeated a dozen times that the opposition did what Aljbin Kurti did until he came to power, and well-known insults were directed at opposition MPs, especially the most prominent in the "rebellion" - except for Miroslav Aleksić and Aleksandar Jovanović Ćuta. The members of the opposition, those who were in the hall, made noise and that was it.

photo: printscreen rts

OPPOSITE PUMPING

The session was brought to an end as Ana Brnabić said at the beginning - at 18 pm and will continue for the next two days.

The government showed, once again, as in November 2024 when it adopted the budget, that it does not care much about the opposition noise. It turns out that the chairman's position is crucial, because it determines who will be heard in the hall and broadcast. There is an uproar in the hall, but the ruling majority is separated from the opposition by parliamentary security, and the opposition is in a kind of corral. And no one cares if they make noise or not. In principle, Ana Brnabić formally brings the session to an end, the members of the government vote and that's it.

The opposition did not boycott the parliament, except for the Democratic Party, but they did not block it either. There are many reasons, but now it is as it is. Obviously, the opposition is not able to make a common agreement and strategy, and then work according to some plan. Although it seemed that the event of Tuesday, March 4 was actually a continuation of what the citizens call "pumping", there is no hint or announcement that after this "parliamentary raid" that earned them a reputation as a bully (which is neither crucial nor important), any other action will follow. It was known even before this that the parliament is a front, like all other institutions. It is not yet clear how that can change.

photo: phonet

Radicals disguised as progressives and supported by socialists, Rasim Ljajić, Hungarians, pensioners and Vulin, show no public signs of "giving in". They all look like those Vučić loyalists who would rather "give their heads" for him than do anything that the people on the streets of Serbia ask of them.

The debate in the National Assembly will not lead to a resolution of the social crisis in Serbia. Everyone is staring at March 15 as another "doomsday date", in which some see the beginning of liberation and a change of government in Serbia, while those in power are praying to God that everything ends peacefully, that the people disperse and that from Monday March 17 they gather again around Vučić and embark on a new political fraud of creating the so-called New Movement.

Until then, both of them will be active: the people will "pump" and arrange for everyone to come to Belgrade, and the regime will do everything possible to minimize that event, and if possible, somehow liquidate the student protest.