During a tumultuous political weekend, President Aleksandar Vui resigned as leader of the SNS at the party’s rally as the fourth anti-government ‘Serbia Against Violence’ demonstration took place.
The Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) held a mass rally titled “Serbia of Hope” in front of the parliament on Friday.
The rally, which was attended by tens of thousands of people carried by bus from all over the country, featured several speakers, including Foreign Minister Ivica Dai, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Sziarto, and Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik.
Vui spoke last and announced that he would be resigning as the party’s leader.
“Because of everything that has transpired, unity and togetherness are more important than ever,” he said, before urging the audience to observe a moment of reverence for the victims of the May mass shootings.
“As of tomorrow, I will be the president of all Serbian citizens, but not of any political party. But on June 28th, due to the crisis in which we find ourselves, we will form the Movement for People and State in order to have a base and foundation to sustain our country during the next two or three years of crisis, which will determine the future of Serbia, as Vui stated.
A few hours later, Defense Minister Milo Vuevi would assume leadership of the SNS.
“We will continue to be the engine of development for our nation, as well as a party that nurtures and preserves Serbia’s traditional values. Vuevi stated, “We will continue our political commitment to keeping Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia, and we will look out for the interests of Serb communities everywhere, but especially in former Yugoslavian states.”
On Saturday afternoon, opposition members organized the fourth “Serbia against violence” demonstration against the government. Tens of thousands of demonstrators placed flowers in front of the parliament and then marched en masse to the national broadcaster “RTS” headquarters.
As the evening news was broadcast live, they chanted “thieves” and “resign” while surrounding the building. Thousands of demonstrators congregated nearby in Tamajdan Park to reiterate their demands.
The organizers announced that the next “Serbia against violence” demonstration would take place on June 2nd. Left-wing “Do not let Belgrade drown” (NDB) member Radomir Lazovi told EURACTIV that Serbia must demonstrate that it cannot continue in this manner.
“We intend to continue fighting to implement measures and shut down hate factories like Pink and Happy TV. To cease the regime media’s dissemination of false news and aggressive content. We intend to fight for our demands to be met so that Serbia can return to normalcy.
When these demands are met, we will continue to examine how to increase the number of teachers and psychologists in schools and society, as well as how to improve our social services, he said.
