Assembly of Novi Sad
On Tuesday, members of the ruling majority in the Novi Sad City Assembly supported Mayor Milan Đurić (SNS) at an extraordinary session scheduled at the request of the united opposition and did not vote for his dismissal. While the discussion was going on, several hundred citizens protested loudly in front of the parliament building, and some tried to enter the building, which was prevented by numerous armored policemen.
About twenty days ago, the opposition parties submitted a request to schedule an extraordinary session of the Novi Sad parliament, with the explanation that both Đurić and his predecessor, the current Prime Minister of Serbia Miloš Vučević, had enough time to "feel moral responsibility and resign" due to the death of 15 people after the fall of the canopy at the railway station. The opposition has been accusing Đurić for weeks that he "has bloody hands" and that he is involved in corruption.
The opposition invited the citizens to come to the City Assembly at 11:52 a.m. and express their dissatisfaction with the tragedy with noise for 15 minutes. Soon there were the first scuffles with the police, then pushing with the cordon in front of the entrance to the parliament building. As this text goes to press on Tuesday evening, reports indicate that one young man has been injured (suspected of being beaten by the police) and that three other protesters have been detained by the police.
There was tension in the assembly hall on several occasions, and physical clashes between government and opposition councilors occurred after Miran Pogačar, a councilor from the opposition movement Bravo, approached Mayor Đurić and loudly told him that "one day he will answer". After counting, it was established that 25 councilors voted for dismissal, and 48 voted against, while one ballot was invalid. The opposition then assessed that the ruling majority's refusal to dismiss Đurić "represents humiliating the victims and pointing a finger in the eye of all citizens who are in mourning over an unprecedented tragedy."
Apart from in front of the entrance, numerous policemen were stationed inside the building of the City Assembly, as well as in the building of the Assembly of Vojvodina. The Freedom and Justice Party (SSP) called on the Speaker of the Provincial Parliament Balint Juhas (SVM) to resign because "he turned the highest legislative body into a police barracks".
National frequencies
That there are no limits that the local pro-government television stations can break through in their bizarre understanding of media freedoms and the role of public media, is also shown by the new, incredible excursion into the systemic creation of distorted reality - the show "Conspiracy Theories" on Television B92. In prime time on Sunday evening, the show is edited and hosted by Saša Borojević, one of the constellation of "modern shamans" who have achieved general recognition thanks to guest appearances on television with national coverage.
In his case, thanks to promotion on pro-government media, he went from being an interpreter from obscure YouTube shows to becoming an expert on protecting family values, denying climate change and vaccines, exposing pedophilia and LGBT groups, and the like. Then he became a political analyst in the service of the government and this summer he earned a temporary place on Vučić's list and a councilman's mandate in the Assembly of Belgrade.
Although the fact-checking teams of "Istinomer", "Raskrinkavanja" and "FakeNews Tragača" long ago exposed him and proved that he was spreading conspiracy theories and disinformation, Borojević got space on national television and already in the first show, with the help of similar experts, he did what he did best knows - he listened to the audience and probably convinced many more in one of the most famous conspiracy theories - chemtrails. These are the traces that the planes leave behind, which Borojević and others claim are chemical or biological agents managed by the secret services of America and the "collective West". As pointed out in the analysis of "Istinomer", the show was flooded with other misinformation and contested theses connected with various conspiracy theories.
New engagement of the regime star
We wrote in this place at the end of August about the real summer tour of Jelena Karleuša in the cities and towns of Serbia, paid from the accounts of the local self-governments under the rule of Vučić's progressives, and with the arrival of the winter holidays, this "pop star" announced new performances, again, of course, about at the expense of all citizens. After Šabac, Ruma, Sombor, Subotica, Stara Pazova, Kikinda and Kraljevo, it was the turn of Kragujevac, where Karleuša will perform at the city's New Year's party.
She herself revealed in a statement to "Informer" that she was hired by the Kragujevac government, which, on the other hand, does not speak about this engagement to this day, regardless of the strong calls sent to her by opposition parties, local musicians and artists, and numerous citizens.
"We believe that this decision of the local government is inappropriate and harmful, both for the culture of Kragujevac and for the moral integrity of our society at a time when the whole country is facing sadness due to the tragedy in Novi Sad", it is stated in the public address of a group of rock musicians from Kragujevac. They also joined the petition against Karleusa's concert, which has so far been signed by more than three thousand people from Kragujevac. For her performances at city celebrations and festivals, Karleuša has received between 40 and 50 thousand euros so far, so it is assumed that the Kragujevac budget will also cost that much.
Unlike the progressive government, Karleuša responds to name-calling on social networks and in the media and as usual does not choose her words, and after last week, in yet another demonstration of her loyalty to the progressive regime, she insulted Marinika Tepić on a national basis, Kragujevac journalist Milan Mišić proposed to the local government to invite their friends from Pitesti, the sister city from Romania, to Karleuša's concert.
New changes in Partizan
After leading Partizan players in eight league games (six wins and two draws) and a day after an easy victory over Jedinstvo from Ub, Savo Milošević left the club without any public explanation, and the new management then announced that Milošević's resignation had been accepted. On Tuesday, yesterday's assistant Marko Jovanović was presented as the temporary first coach for the next two games.
According to the club announcement, after Sunday's victory, Predrag Mijatović, member of the Temporary Authority in charge of the sports sector, met with Milosevic, and they also discussed the debut performance of a player whose signing this year, like many others, was declared a failure. In short, Milošević was criticized for sending a message that he was continuing with the wrong practice, and the now former coach experienced it as an attack on his integrity and independence in decision-making.
More informed journalists claim that the real reason for Milošević's departure is his knowledge that his days on Partizan's bench are certainly numbered because the interim administration, in addition to the many dismissals it has handed out in recent weeks, intends to replace him at the beginning of the winter break. Be that as it may, the euphoria was short-lived after the changes in the club at the end of October, and from almost 20 spectators at the first game chosen by the Provisional Authority, there were less than a thousand last week.
After 15 rounds of the Serbian Super League, Partizan is in second place and 12 points behind Red Star, which can be considered a success considering the scale of the club's downfall, but Partizan fans will not be pleased at all that the new administration glorifies and defends the President of the country Aleksandar Vučić - in which the aforementioned Mijatović is leading the way - because many "partisans" have no doubt that it is Vučić who is responsible for the club's collapse and lagging far behind the "eternal rival" in every sense.
Less than two days of blockade - that's how long it took to see how weak and powerless the public media service is, both from the outside and from the inside. At the moment of writing this text, it is the eighth day of the blockade, and the sixth that RTS is not broadcasting its program. They also seem to be facing a strike inside the house. And the essence of blocking RTS is not in what it publishes, but in what it keeps silent
In the months after the fall of the canopy in Novi Sad, the flames of rebellion spread throughout Serbia. The first protests started in Novi Sad right after the tragedy. The authorities responded with arrests, police cordons and intimidation, but instead of calming down the protesters, new protests followed.
The rector of the University of Belgrade, Vladan Đokić, has been the target of top state officials and regime tabloids for months, who label him as an insidious instigator of student protests, an opportunist, "the face of evil" and "the leader of the criminal octopus." How and why a rector became "state enemy number one"
"I'm standing in the cordon, and my daughter is shouting at me 'aw, aw, killers'. What should I do? If they ordered me - I would throw down my baton and bulletproof vest and stand on the side of my child," a police officer from the south of Serbia, who works as needed in the Belgrade Police Brigade, told "Vreme"
The recent formation of the Đura Macuta government is part of the regime's revenge and cynicism. This can be seen most in the "black troika" of new ministers appointed to deal with the parts of society that are the leaders and symbols of the big rebellion that lasted for several months, the cause of which was the fall of the canopy in Novi Sad, which claimed 16 human lives. Education, universities, unsolicited media and parts of the judiciary that refuse to listen to orders, either publicly, with announcements, or hiding behind legal procedures, should be dismantled. Those who will have no problem doing everything they are told, even reinforcing the orders with their own inventions, are chosen for this.
Who mentions the extraordinary elections when the rating of the party in power is falling, and according to all surveys, Vučić is not the most important political factor in the country, but the students?
The brutal beating of students and citizens in Novi Sad shows that the regime is not only ready to take revenge - it is actually carrying it out
If in reality the principle of balance is violated - the way the incompetent regime violated the relationship between the concrete elements at the Novi Sad Railway Station - reality will behave like a canopy: it will fail to obey
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