Protesting Students Say Not Asking for Election To Take Power, But as an Instrument of Coercion

Student's protest BETAPHOTO/Uros Matovic

Student protesters in Serbia said on Dec. 24 that they had not asked for early legislative elections as a political goal, to seize power, but solely as an "instrument of coercion," saying that elections "are not destabilization, but an attempt to stabilize society."

"Only a new political majority free of the pressure and interests that have led to this crisis, can create conditions in which institutions will be forced to work in accordance with the law, while the students' demands, as well as those of society as a whole, will have finally been met. Call an election," the students said on Instagram ahead of a drive to collect signatures for calling the elections on Dec. 28.

They added that they had named four demands at the start of their struggle, followed by two more later on which "are clear, rational and easy to meet," adding that they all boiled down to one thing: respect for the law without exception, the clear accountability of those in power and the protection of basic human rights.

"They pose the minimum standard without which a society cannot be democratic: the application of the law, the accountability of institutions, the protection of human rights and dignity, as well as the public work of government bodies. In every functional democracy demands like this are seen as routine - documentation is published, violence processed, peaceful protests respected while education and health are shielded from political abuse," the students said.