"Direct democracy is the only way in which no one is neglected in the discussion and conclusion, it enables complete transparency and guarantees that the decisions made really correspond to the people", according to the students of the Faculty of Philosophy.
Students of the Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy in the blockade called on citizens to organize assemblies in their towns on March 28, with the message that "the only responsible and politically legitimate solution is the one we all participated in creating."
"The struggle that the students started is now the struggle of our entire society. With that in mind, we are also aware that the issues we face are no longer issues that concern only students, nor are we called to decide on them ourselves," the students of the Faculty of Philosophy stated in a statement.
It is added that every social group has the right and should decide and actively participate in the politics of their community and state.
"We are aware that representative democracy has disappointed us many times, both because of the corruption and abuse of position it enables, and because it did not really convey our voice. Instead of trusting in better, more honest and fair representatives, mediators of our votes, we can speak out ourselves. This is precisely what is made possible by assemblies, which are legally recognized, and represent a way in which everyone can express their opinion," the statement said.
Direct democracy complicates the decision-making process
Students also remind that for a long time it was considered that direct democracy complicates the decision-making process, that it is not effective and efficient, but that the plenums managed to prove the opposite.
"Direct democracy is the only way in which no one is neglected in the discussion and conclusion, it enables complete transparency and guarantees that the decisions made really correspond to the people", according to the students of the Faculty of Philosophy.
They also say that "we must not understand the assemblies as an immediate way out of the crisis we are in, but as a form of frequent pressure that the people would exert on the people who try to represent them, thereby taking over the constitutionally guaranteed sovereignty of each of us."
"Students do not consider the assemblies a short-term answer to current problems, but rather a legacy of our months-long struggle and a way to ensure that we do not find ourselves in a situation like this again," emphasized the students of the Faculty of Philosophy.
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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