Parliament Sitting Continues with Strong Security Measures, Without Opposition

(BETAPHOTO/Narodna skupstina Srbije/Pedja Vuckovic)

After a series of incidents – including flares, smoke grenades, the injury of three female MPs, a subsequent bomb threat – marked the March 4 opening of the Serbian National Assembly’s spring session, the parliament continued its sitting on March 5, with over 60 items on the agenda.

As the day’s meeting commenced, the central table, seating the parliament speaker, was surrounded by multiple members of parliament security, while opposition MPs were notably absent from the hall.

The March 4 sitting was interrupted several times when opposition representatives – dissatisfied with the decision to discuss the lengthy agenda overall and in general terms, with multiple bills presented by members of the outgoing Cabinet – left their seats and set off smoke bombs and a fire extinguisher in front of the central table.

According to Speaker Ana Brnabic, MP Jasmina Obradovic suffered a stroke due to the incident, while MPs Jasmina Karanac and Sonja Ilic sought medical attention as well.

Brnabic likened the opposition’s actions to those of a terrorist gang, while Interior Minister Ivica Dacic stated that the perpetrators would face criminal charges.

During the March 4 sitting, none of the opposition MPs asked to take the floor, but they did obstruct the speeches of regime representatives by creating various kinds of noise.

The agenda for the sitting comprised 62 items, including amendments to the Law on Higher Education, a bill offering housing loans to people under the age of 35, the ratification of the Free Trade Agreement between Serbia and Egypt as well as amendments to the Income Tax Act.

Few of the agenda items were discussed, however, with MPs and ministers instead discussing the atmosphere in the Assembly and criticizing the opposition.

Responding to the incidents, Belgrade’s First Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office announced that it has asked the police to gather all information necessary to bring charges against the perpetrators.

Later on March 4, after the building was closed for the night, a telephone call claimed that a bomb was set in the Parliament building.

The dispatched bomb squad determined the threat was a hoax.