Opposition Movement Demands Serbian President Step Down

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic (BETAPHOTO/PREDSEDNISTVO REPUBLIKE SRBIJE/Dimitrije Goll)

The We - the Strength of the People opposition movement announced on March 24 just before midnight that it had delivered a demand for the resignation of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic at the front desk of the Presidency General Secretariat.

A photocopy of the document, which shows a reception stamp from the Secretariat dated March 24, reads that six reasons are listed in the demand, the first of which is the "long-standing state of general social, political and moral crisis in Serbia, conflict and polarization in society, with the sides' opposition having reached the level of hatred." The second cited reason is "the surrender of all remaining institutions of the Republic of Serbia in Kosovo and Metohija, resulting in the increasing persecution of the remaining Serb population there, threatening their complete exodus."

The third cited reason is "the promotion of an agenda of intolerance toward political opponents, of insults and degradation in the public sphere and through news media." The fourth argument for demanding Vucic's resignation is "the hijacking of news media solely for the government's benefit even though national, provincial, city and municipal coverage frequencies are a public good and as such must espouse the plurality of political factors." The fifth listed reason is acting to "destroy Serbian farming and the Serbian village, shielding the illicit import of agricultural and other products and promoting mining at the expense of healthy food and clean water and air."

The last, sixth stated reason describes Vucic "hijacking all branches of government outside the authority vested in the president of Serbia by the Constitution and law." "We demand that you immediately tender your irrevocable resignation as president of the Republic of Serbia," reads the We - the Strength of the People document, which bears the signature of the organization's president Branimir Nestorovic.