Opposition Party: Focus Needs To Stay on Establishing Responsibility for Novi Sad

BETAPHOTO/DRAGAN GOJIC

The Social Democratic Party's presidency pleaded on Nov. 14 against allowing the subject of establishing criminal and political responsibility for the Novi Sad tragedy in which 14 people lost their lives when an overhang collapsed at the renovated railway station in the city to be shifted to something else.

"We call on the public and opposition to not succumb to the regime's attempts to divert attention from the catastrophic fact that it has yet to be established who is directly responsible for 14 people losing their lives," the party said in a statement.

At a time when the participants and organizers of protests are being arrested, instead of finding out who is responsible for people dying and arresting them, the party said, we cannot allow the main subject to become who and how organized the protests and the shifting of attention to divisions in the opposition.

"We completely understand the disappointment of citizens in the way that protests were organized in Belgrade and how the opposition with representatives in parliament is preventing the creation of a broad front, like it did during the Serbia against Violence protests," it added. Instead of resigning over the tragedy that happened in the jurisdiction of the government that he heads, the prime minister is "using the pain of the families of the deceased for political marketing" on social networks, the party said.