Photo: Lenka PavlovićIt should be worrying for the government that a significant number of people went to the protests and that a few young activists showed great organizational skills and no fear, under a regime whose power is intimidation. Where there were provocations, the demonstrators did not back down. Finally, there was a change of generations in the civil protests. There are still four months left until the elections
On Saturday, December 4, at the invitation of several environmental organizations, citizens blocked roads in several Serbian cities and highways from 14 p.m. There were significantly more people on the streets than a week ago, the blockade lasted two hours instead of one this time. Blockades were announced until 16:XNUMX p.m., but in some places they were extended due to the large number of people.
The demands of the demonstrators were the same - to change Referendum Law and to withdraw the Law on Expropriation. Several environmental activists have reiterated that they will not stop protesting until their demands are met.
They also announced that from week to week, if necessary, blockades and protests will intensify.
What happened: The police were nowhere to be seen. President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić is in his addressing the nation announced on Wednesday that members of the MUP will not intervene.
Most citizens gathered on the highway near the Sava center. Footage from the overpass showed that so many people had not been at a protest rally for a long time. People shouted "Uprising! Uprising!” Some banners read "Stop lithium mining" and "Stop confiscation of property".
The highway was blocked a little earlier, around 13.45:XNUMX p.m., due to which several cars and buses were stuck in the mass of people. Here and there, ambulances passed by, which the demonstrators let pass with applause.
Several key roads and intersections are blocked in Belgrade.
At the roundabout near the Municipality of Novi Beograd, a relatively small number of Protestants completely blocked traffic with a continuous parade at pedestrian crossings.
"Vremen" reporters reported that around 15:XNUMX p.m. a white Jugo ran into people blocking the exit from the Gazelle to the Fair and ran over a man. The driver of the south fled the scene of the accident.
Well-known men attacked the journalist Fonet and his associates at the Dayton gas station.TimesDavor Lukacs. Lukac escaped without major injuries.
There were no major incidents in Belgrade.
U Novi Sad there was a fight on several occasions. According to the statements of the demonstrators, a few people started throwing bottles and stones at them. The demonstrators did not retreat, but chased away, as they say, the "provocateurs". One of those people was injured.
The N1 reporter from Šabac, where masked men with sticks and hammers attacked protesters last Saturday, reported that ten thousand people gathered at today's protest, more than ever in Šabac.
In Niš, on Saturday morning, the police came to the doors of many activists, warned them that the traffic blockade was a "criminal act" and asked if they were the organizers of the blockade. Activists assessed it as an attempt at intimidation.
It can be concluded that many more people took to the streets today than seven days ago.
On TV Pink, that's why time, completely different pictures. In the special show "Terror over the people", regular guests Predrag Sarapa talked about the attempt to "forcibly take over power" with the aim of bringing "Western puppets" to power. The idea was created that "dozens" of targets blocked roads and "harassed" citizens.
From 15 p.m., Pink broadcast live the meeting between Aleksandar Vučić and the villagers in the village of Gornje Nedeljice in the local church. Vučić was filmed arriving on foot. A group of priests waited for him, he kissed the hand of three priests. As he was coming, the church bells were ringing. Then they sang in his honor in the church and presented him with the Virgin Mary.
Cameras captured Vučić as God-fearing and humble. He sat down with "the people" and while the "terrorists" scattered across Serbia, he still sat down "with the people" in Gornji Nedeljice.
Everything seemed staged. Before allowing questions regarding Rio Tinto and the disputed laws, Vucic gave one of his usual speeches.
While this text was written, Vučić was still in Gornji Nedeljice.
How we rate it: The number of people who took to the streets in major cities would have to overwhelm the government.
A lot of young people were seen, as if there was a change in the generation of demonstrators, that the old and tired protesters from the 1990s were replaced by new activists.
It should be worrying for the government that it is a few young environmental activists showed great organizational skills and no fear, under a regime whose power is intimidation.
Where there were provocations, the demonstrators did not back down.
The guests of Pink television, Aleksandar Vučić in Gornji Nedeljici, at least on Saturday, compared to the pictures from the civil protests, looked like they were from another era, as if they had been overtaken by time while always saying the same phrases: foreign mercenaries, traitors, criminals, "Djilas-Sholak-619 million-thieves."
The authorities opted for the tactic of not attacking physically in the hope that these protests will also fail, like the "1 in 5 million" protests.
Why it matters: The parliamentary, presidential and Belgrade elections will be held in four months elections. After almost a decade under the rule of the Serbian Progressive Party, it seems that civil consciousness has begun to awaken, which sank into hopelessness under the aggressive usurpation rule and controlled regime media.
Unlike the "1 in 5 million" protests, these protests have two concrete demands and there are no signs that they could be abandoned. They are the wind at the back of all opposition parties, especially those with with a green sign. The opposition politicians, at least for now, learned their lesson and did not stand out.
The problem with all civil protests is that they backfire if they are not channeled into the political scene. The elections are close enough that, if the government does not relent, they could be channeled towards them.
The progressive government, on the other hand, is on the defensive for the first time. The rating of Vučić and SNS is bad if he gives in, and it can turn out to be even worse if he does not give in.
AI/red/N1/Nova S
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