Serbian leader Aleksandar Vučić addressed the nation to announce an “urgent and massive” government reshuffle that would replace over half of his cabinet. In effect, on the night of Monday January 27th, he agreed to all of the protesters’ demands in an attempt to calm the tension sweeping in the country.
“My demand is for an urgent and massive reshuffle of the government,” President Vučić told reporters in Belgrade after protesters blockaded the capital’s largest intersection for almost a day. He explained that over half of his cabinet members were to be replaced, which would mean the dismissal of over a dozen of the country’s highest-level officials who are unwilling to work and fight in these “difficult times.”
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Miloš Vučević announced his resignation “in order to reduce tensions,” he said, adding that with this move the government has met “all demands of the most radical protesters.”
Additionally, Vučić agreed to all of the demands set by the protesters. These include the full disclosure of documents related to the deadly November accident that sparked the current unrest, the impartial investigation and prosecution of all those responsible, the release of all detained protesters, and increasing public funding for higher education by 20%.
The president hopes that these concessions will prompt an honest discussion between the government and the protest leaders to ensure the functioning and stability of the country:
Because of the state of our society, because of our Serbia, it is important that we begin talking.
At the same time, Vučić denounced the opposition parties’ demands that he resign and replace the entire cabinet with a “transitional” government made up of “non-partisan” experts and activists, saying that power cannot be transferred without proper elections.
Earlier this month, Vučić offered to hold a referendum on his governance, pledging to quit and allow early elections—if the majority of the voters wanted it.
That’s unlikely to happen, however, as his right-wing sovereigntist Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) is still the most popular platform, polling at around 48%, far ahead of all the opposition outfits. Images from Belgrade may suggest that most Serbs have had enough of Vučić, but the truth is that the opposition is unlikely to defeat him in an election, hence the current situation.
If the unrest doesn’t subside after all these concessions, Vučić might treat it as proof that the initial student protests were co-opted by foreign-funded NGOs and activists who seek to overthrow the government in a Maidan-style color revolution, as the president suggested earlier, citing reports of foreign interference from the intelligence services.
The latest 24-hour blockade of Belgrade’s most important traffic intersection began at 10 am on Monday. Tens of thousands have joined the protesting students to demand political accountability for the deadly accident last year that started the current unrest.
The university students began striking and protesting the government after the concrete canopy of the recently renovated Novi Sad railway station collapsed in November, killing 15 and severely injuring two more below. Government critics immediately attributed the tragedy to corruption in public institutions.
Prosecutors filed charges against 13 people, including former construction and transport minister Goran Vesić and several other state officials. The charges against Vesić were dropped just a week after his arrest, which caused widespread outrage and the escalation of the student protests into a country-wide anti-government movement. Vesić and twelve others were then indicted and detained again in late December, but it wasn’t enough to contain anti-government sentiments.
President Vučić instructed all relevant parties on Friday, January 25th, to release “absolutely everything” related to the accident, saying the documents prove that the government has nothing to hide and investigation is carried out impartially. The third and last batch of the documents was released to the public on Monday.
On Sunday, Vučić attributed the relentless campaign to foreign actors fueling the color revolution-style unrest in the country because of the government’s refusal to impose sanctions on Russia and its friendly relationship with China.
Last week, Serbian authorities detained 13 foreign nationals from nine countries working for international NGOs. They were ordered to leave Serbia on the suspicion of foreign interference, and barred from entering the country for one year.
