More than six months have passed since the fall of the canopy of the railway station in Novi Sad, the faculties have been blocked for more than five months, the demands of the students have not been met, and the next one has come - the calling of extraordinary parliamentary elections. The question arises - why now?
In recent months, Serbia has been in a political crisis, the solution of which many expect from students. Those who started the changes more than five months ago.
Students have already made great political moves for the country - They overthrew a government. and moved people to clearly begin to express their own views.
In months blocked faculties, suspension of work in certain sectors, Serbia won the new Government headed by endocrinologist Đuro Macuta, but student requirements the rest are unfulfilled. That is why they are students now, after a long time steps taken across the country and Evropi, decided to go one step further in the de facto political direction - demanding early parliamentary elections.
"We started with the student demands in the hope that the institutions will start doing their work to fulfill the demands. We are deep into the fifth month of our blockades, and there has been no progress toward fulfilling those student demands," Aleksa Savić, a student at the Faculty of Technical Sciences (FTN) at the University of Novi Sad, told "Vreme".
They announced that potential elections on which the student list will be included are possible students of that faculty recently. Since then, there has been an argument over who would go on could be found on the list and whether extraordinary parliamentary elections are the next step in political life in Serbia.
"Three plenums ago, we voted on the question of whether we believe that the current government will fulfill our demands, and the answer was almost unanimous - no. After that, we had to find another solution to get out of this situation, and that will be elections, the democratic will of the people, which, we hope, will elect the next government that will fulfill our demands," Savić explains to "Vreme".
Students have been talking about this for some time, and now they have publicly come out with such an attitude, Bogdan Jevtić, a student at the Faculty of Law at the University of Belgrade, reveals to "Vreme".
"We have been working on this request for about a month, but we just published it now," Jevtić told "Vreme".
Bug from FTN
The entire plan was worked on by students of the FTN in Novi Sad, along with students of the Faculty of Law and Electrical Engineering from Belgrade, explains Aleksa Savić.
"FTN was the first to go public, in order to plant the bug for students to think about that option as well. In the meantime, serious meetings have started throughout the country related to our plan to get out of the political crisis," adds the "Vremena" interlocutor.
The students with whom "Vreme" spoke expect that the decision on extraordinary elections will be made as soon as possible, so that they can be held as soon as possible.
"We thought it would be expedient to leave as early as possible, so that we could prepare as well as possible and that the elections could be held in a foreseeable time. In the event that the president calls for elections on May 15, we have 45 to 60 days until the elections. Then the elections could be at the end of June, which is a normal time, the people are there, the support will not decrease. We went for those tickets," explains Bogdan Jevtić, a law student in Belgrade.
As he adds, if the elections are held in the middle of summer, it will not be good, many people will not be there, it will be very hot.
What do the authorities think about that?
Judging by the first statements of the representatives of the Serbian Progressive Party and coalition partners, they are not enthusiastic about the students' request to call for special elections.
The President of the Serbian Parliament, Ana Brnabić, in a post on the X social network, wrote that "the blockers have no idea what their demands are or who, in accordance with the Constitution and laws, is responsible for those demands. Otherwise, they would not be able to declare the stupidity of asking for elections in order to fulfill their demands".
Brnabić added in the announcement that it is true that the demands of the "blockaders" were just an excuse and a cover from the beginning, recalling that President Aleksandar Vučić spoke about this.
Interior Minister Ivica Dacic stated that he believes there is no reason to hold extraordinary parliamentary elections, stating that Serbia needs political stability and continued economic development. He stated that he is not afraid of the results of the elections and added that "those (who are seeking elections) do not understand that this could be the end of their dream of being able to do something in those elections."
The blockaders have no idea what their demands are or who, in accordance with the Constitution and laws, is responsible for those demands. Otherwise, they would not be able to claim the stupidity of calling for elections to have their demands met.
First, their original demands relate to the PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE and the JUDICIARY, not to... pic.twitter.com/5heZOb7lUk
- Ana Brnabic (@anabrnabic) May 6, 2025
Before the students announced their last demand, the recent prime minister, and now only the president of the Serbian Progressive Party, Miloš Vučević, spoke about potential early elections.
He said that "the blockaders are now on the field of pure politics", as well as that extraordinary parliamentary elections are called for when "the revolution and the demand for a transitional 'Đilas' government" have failed.
FTN student Aleksa Savić tells "Vreme" that he sees that the representatives of the regime "are somewhat not in favor of the elections".
"When we started the blockades, the regime said that it was no problem for them to win the elections, and that it was no problem for them to show that they were supported by the majority. After five months, March 15 and several hundred thousand people in Belgrade, we came to the conclusion that the CRTE survey shows that 51 percent of respondents support students, and only 33 percent of SNS. This is pure data from the field, which they are aware of, and that is why they are now denying any potential election option", concludes Savić.
If and when elections are called, the 60-day period for holding them begins.
It is not yet known what all but the student list could be as an option on the ballot, but what is certain is that there will be no students on the student list.
Who all could be candidates on the student list, "Vreme" published in a separate text.
Early this morning, there was pushing and tension in front of the Assembly of Novi Sad when the police started pushing the citizens gathered in the blockade. One student was injured and another was arrested, while the police allowed employees to enter the building
A man from Vrnjačka Banja was arrested on Monday after he damaged the premises of the Serbian Progressive Party with a firearm and shot at the police officers who arrived at the scene. There were no injuries in the incident
"The bastards and rascals of the blockaders used Vidovdan to announce the final physical confrontation with students who just want to study and fulfill their constitutionally guaranteed right to knowledge and education. Attacks on them will not be allowed," says the President of the National Assembly, Ana Brnabić
The trial of SNS activists for the attack on students in Novi Sad was postponed because one of the accused did not appear. According to the defense, he is undergoing treatment. The court scheduled a new hearing for June 30
Vidovdan will be marked by two opposing gatherings in Belgrade - a student protest and a gathering of government supporters. The regime media is already announcing violence. Is intimidation and dissuading of citizens from protesting at work?
Aleksandar Vučić now has only the old, proven methods of classic dictatorships left, because these modern methods of insanity and poisoning the public are failing. And that, however, goes against his head
Vučić is not defending the state, but himself from the state. With a drum on his back and a guitar in his hands, this man-orchestra performs two or three of the same songs without hearing, with falsifications and falling out of rhythm. His government and politics are like that. In short - dangerous for the environment
Arrests of professors, punishment of people, firing of journalists... The regime of Aleksandar Vučić is shining and is yet to shine. It is the decadent phase of the regime, the one towards the end
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