Serbian opposition lawmakers threw smoke grenades and used pepper spray inside parliament on Tuesday to protest against the government and to support demonstrating students, with one legislator suffering a stroke during the chaos.
Four months of student-led demonstrations, sparked by the deaths of 15 people when a railway station roof collapsed, have drawn in teachers, farmers and others to become the biggest threat yet to president Aleksandar Vucic’s decade-long rule, with many denouncing rampant corruption and incompetence in government.
At the legislative session, after the ruling coalition led by the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) approved the agenda, some opposition politicians ran from their seats towards the parliamentary speaker and scuffled with security guards.
Others tossed smoke grenades and used pepper spray. A live TV broadcast showed black and pink smoke billowing inside the parliament, which has seen brawls before in the decades since the introduction of multiparty democracy in 1990.
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Mr Vucic later said authorities would hold all those deputies involved in the fracas to account, calling it “hooliganism”.
Under Serbian law, parliamentary deputies enjoy immunity from prosecution, but can lose it if they commit serious crimes.
Speaker Ana Brnabic said three lawmakers were injured and one, Jasmina Obradovic of the SNS party, had suffered a stroke and was taken to hospital.
Zlatibor Loncar, the health minister, later said Ms Obradovic was in a serious condition.
As the session continued, ruling coalition politicians debated while opposition lawmakers whistled and blew horns.
Opposition deputies also held signs reading “general strike” and “justice for those killed”, referring to those who died when the station roof collapsed in the city of Novi Sad last November.
Outside parliament hundreds of protesters stood in silence to honour those killed. Protest leaders called for a major rally in the capital Belgrade on March 15th.
The ruling coalition says Western intelligence agencies are trying to destabilise Serbia and topple the government by backing the protests.
“We have a proposal ... to have a transitional government,” Radomir Lazovic of the opposition Green-Left Front told supporters in front of the parliament.
The opposition says a transitional government should secure conditions for free and fair elections, but Mr Vucic and his allies have so far rejected that demand.
“This was a failed attempt of the ruling coalition to show it is in control ... and [there’s] a potential for an escalation,” Radivoje Grujic, a Warsaw-based consultant said, commenting on the parliamentary session.
Parliament was due to adopt a law increasing funds for universities – one of the main demands of protesting students.
But other items put on the agenda by the ruling coalition including the one about noting the resignation of prime minister Milos Vucevic angered the opposition.
The session has been adjourned and is due to resume on Wednesday.
The incident in parliament comes after growing pressure on the government for months. On Saturday, tens of thousands of people flocked to the southern town of Nis to commemorate victims of a railway station disaster and take part in a student-led protest.
Mass demonstrations have gathered momentum in the four months since 15 people were killed when a roof collapsed at a newly renovated train station in Novi Sad, Serbia’s second-biggest city.
Many Serbians blame the collapse on corruption they link to Mr Vucic’s decade in power, and teachers, farmers and other workers have joined the protests that began with a student blockade of classes at universities in December.
Mr Vucic’s government has said it will start an anti-corruption campaign, and has denied allegations of corruption.
Prosecutors have charged 13 people in connection with the roof collapse.
But the students have continued daily protests, pressing their demands that authorities publish documents relating to the station roof collapse and justice for those responsible. – Reuters
