Belgrade:
Serbian opposition lawmakers lit flares and discharged suspected tear gas during the opening day of the spring session of parliament on Tuesday, in a sign of support for ongoing anti-corruption protests.
Footage shared online showed opposition members holding colourful flares and throwing what appeared to be smoke canisters as the session began to review the legislative agenda.
A live video feed showed parliamentary speaker Ana Brnabic lambasting the opposition’s protest and the alleged use of “tear gas” in the assembly.
“Your colour revolution has failed, and this country will live, this country will work and this country will continue to win,” she told them.
Serbia has been rocked for months by student-led anti-corruption protests following the fatal collapse of a train station roof last year that killed 15 people.
The movement has put increasing pressure on the Serbian government and President Aleksandar Vucic, spurring the resignation of several high-ranking officials, including the prime minister in January.
Tuesday’s session was the first since Prime Minister Milos Vucevic stepped down, where they were set to formalise his resignation.
The parliament was also set to debate a new higher education bill that would slash tuition fees for university students — a demand of the protesters.
In chaotic scenes, the speaker said plans would go ahead to vote on the legislation, after opposition members launched their protest and threw eggs and water at members of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party.
“Do you defend students’ demands like this?” said Brnabic during the session.
Opposition lawmakers also waved Serbian flags and held signs saying: “Your hands are bloody and “Fulfil the students’ demands!”
Melee
The speaker later said that multiple MPs were injured during the melee.
Serbia’s Health Minister Zlatibor Loncar said that one lawmaker was taken to an intensive care unit after suffering a stroke.
Hours after the first, more chaotic scenes erupted in the parliament when a fire extinguisher was discharged, flares were lit and smoke canisters set off.
Belgrade’s public prosecutor’s office said it had ordered police “to establish the relevant facts and gather all available evidence to identify the individuals who brought and used pyrotechnic devices” and find out who else threw objects during the session.
The collapse of a railway station roof in the city of Novi Sad in November followed extensive renovations to the building.
It ignited long-simmering anger in the country over corruption and the alleged lack of oversight for construction and development projects.
Vucic and other government officials have swung between calling for talks and firing off allegations that the demonstrators are being backed by foreign powers.
To quell the protests, the government has sought to meet several of the student organisers’ demands.
Those steps have included releasing a raft of documents related to the renovations at the station; pardoning protesters arrested at rallies; boosting funding for higher education; and launching criminal proceedings against suspects accused of attacking demonstrators.
Outside parliament, student protesters also rallied as the session opened, where they held 15 minutes of silence in tribute to the victims of the Novi Sad tragedy.
University students have emerged as the leaders of the protest movement and have been blockading campuses across the country for weeks.
Student protesters however have refrained from making a formal alliance with Serbia’s fractured political opposition.
The protest comes after thousands of demonstrators flocked to the southern city of Nis over the weekend, during the latest in a series of mass demonstrations.
Protesters have called for another large rally to be held in the capital Belgrade on March 15.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)