Formation of New Serbian Parliament Marked with Boos and Banners, Some Opposition MPs Took Oath of Office in the Hall

Parliament of Serbia (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)

The formation of a new Serbian Parliament on Feb. 6 was marred with boos and shouts from the opposition ranks, and the constitutive session was adjourned while no official note was offered on when it would resume to elect parliament speaker. 

In the opening, in protest over election irregularities, the opposition MPs stood up holding banners reading “Elections Were rigged” and “Kosovo Is Serbia,” and the photo of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic saying “The Mafia Boss.” 

Meanwhile, on a balcony, female MPs of the regime were holding a banner saying “DOS (the Democratic Opposition of Serbia, former wide electoral alliance of political parties formed to oust the Socialist Party of Serbia and its leader Slobodan Milosevc) Crooks, You’d Like to Plunder Serbia Again,” while other MPs were holding banners with graphs showing economic growth and the incumbent regime’s achievements. 

After the verification commission had verified mandates, MPs of the coalitions Serbia Against Violence and NADA (Hope) left the session and took oath of office before reporters in the hall, where they also signed the paper and handed it to the parliamentary administration. 

Serbian Progressive Party MP Milos Vucevic accused the opposition MPs of dividing the citizens into the acceptable and unacceptable, stressing that they had taken oath of office “before their media outlets,” rather than the national flag of Serbia. 

In the hall, reporters did not see MPs of the Democratic Party who had earlier said they would not be attending the constitutive session.