The “decisive rally” of the Serbian opposition ended in a massive bitter drinking bout
Yesterday’s rally “All as One – 1 out of 5 Million,” organized by the opposition Union for Serbia, gathered several times fewer protesters than announced and ended in sad embarrassment for the organizers.
Although until the last moment, the protest leaders - Dragan Djilas, Boško Obradović and Vuk Jeremic - promised to bring almost a hundred thousand people to the streets of Belgrade and, for almost the thousandth time, demanded that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and his government resign.
As a result, people gathered to support the march of dissent near the Assembly no more than 7 thousand people, despite the fact that most of them were brought from whatever cities of the country they happened to be.
After several hours of idle wandering around the city center, infuriating ordinary Belgrade residents who were extremely dissatisfied with the blocked streets, the protesters again headed to the Assembly. There, the leaders of the "Union" addressed the protesters.
Despite cheerful statements that there are “so many of them” and that the majority of the population “supports the change of government,” the organizers actually admitted the failure of the action. However, the opposition leaders once again gave the authorities time to “think” until next Friday and again threatened to take people out into the streets if they disobey their demands.
However, the opposition’s demands themselves have become more modest: the formation of a joint commission between the government and the opposition to determine a “fair election procedure” - so that the new composition of the organization involved in regulating electronic media should consist of representatives of the government and the opposition on the basis of equality, as well as the appointment of editors of the main state television channels RTS and RTV from among the non-partisans.
At the same time, a compromise statement was unexpectedly made that the leaders of the “1 in 5 million” protests were ready for dialogue with the authorities on all the points voiced.
“Remember this night, this day, as a great step - Serbia raised its head and threw off the shackles and we will not be slaves... Until victory!”, the leader of one of the parties in the “Union”, Borko Stefanovich, menacingly concluded the failed action.
The general mood of the rally was successfully noted by the Pink TV channel: “Opposition supporters drowned their sadness over the failure of the rally in alcohol.”
A number of famous personalities from among the Union activists were seen in a drunken state. Ordinary protesters did not lag behind them - there were also those who, under the influence of strong drinks, were lying on the lawns.
The country's President Aleksandar Vučić, in an interview for TV channel N1, noted: “I don’t mind if several thousand of them gather and express their opinion,” and added that Serbia must show tolerance, but not in relation to violence.
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