President Aleksandar Vucic condemns ‘attempted violent takeover’ amid protests over alleged election fraud.
Riot police in Serbia have fired tear gasoline and pepper spray at opposition supporters demanding the annulment of elections marred by claims of widespread fraud.
Hundreds of protesters tried to storm Belgrade City Hall on Sunday night throughout demonstrations towards the outcomes of parliamentary and native elections on December 17, which worldwide observers say have been marred by vote shopping for, poll stuffing and the improper affect of President Aleksandar Vucic.
Opposition supporters, some chanting, “Vucic thief” and “Vucic is Putin”, used flagpoles and rocks to interrupt home windows as they tried to interrupt into the capital’s administrative constructing however have been repelled by riot police.
Vucic’s ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) have been returned to energy with a parliamentary majority after profitable almost 47 p.c of the votes, in line with preliminary outcomes introduced by electoral authorities.
The centre-left opposition alliance Serbia Against Violence acquired 23.56 p.c of the vote, adopted by the Socialist Party of Serbia with 6.56 p.c, in line with electoral authorities.
Serbia Against Violence has claimed it was the rightful winner, particularly in Belgrade, the place there have been stories of non-residents being recruited to vote.
In a letter earlier this week, Serbia Against Violence advised European Union establishments, officers and member nations that it might not recognise the result and referred to as on the bloc to do the identical in addition to to provoke an investigation.
“Police are everywhere, also on the roofs. It is obvious that they do not want to recognise [the] election results,” stated Serbia Against Violence chief Nebojsa Zelenovic. “We will continue with our fight.”
Vucic has rejected opposition calls to rerun the vote, blasting claims of irregularities as blatant “lies”.
In an tackle aired by pro-government Pink TV on Sunday, Vucic stated the protests have been “not a revolution” and people looking for to destabilise the state wouldn’t succeed.
“This was an attempted violent takeover of the state institutions of the Republic of Serbia,” Vucic stated, whereas claiming there was proof that “everything was prepared in advance” with help from overseas.
The Serbian chief stated greater than 35 folks have been arrested and extra would comply with.
“Nobody has the right to destroy our house, to destroy the property of our country and our citizens, not to mention causing serious injuries to our police officers,” Vucic stated.
Vucic and his get together have been rattled by antigovernment protests in May, which started as demonstrations towards back-to-back mass shootings that killed 18 folks, together with 9 youngsters, earlier than morphing right into a broader antigovernment motion taking intention at points resembling rising inflation and perceived authorities corruption.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/25/serbia-police-fire-tear-gas-as-opposition-backers-demand-election-annulled?traffic_source=rss
