Thousands at Student Ticket Rally in Novi Sad, Several Candidates Presented

Serbian students (BetaPhoto/Dragan Gojic)

The student movement, the main opponent of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic's ruling coalition, launched its election campaign with a mass rally in Novi Sad on Sept. 10, where a number of Student Ticket candidates for the upcoming general election were presented.

On the first day of the campaign for the snap general election scheduled for Oct. 25, several thousand citizens gathered in Novi Sad. Among the speakers at the event were some of the Student Ticket candidates - university professors Jovo Bakic, Radomir Saicic, Ilija Srdanovic and Ljubica Oparnica, actor Tihomir Stanic, Novi Pazar political scientist Adem Mavric, and a representative of the Union of Judicial Authorities, Nemanja Djuric.

They conveyed the well-known positions of the rebel students - that their demands are based on the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of Serbia, that the authorities will not find the culprits for the collapse of the Novi Sad railway station canopy because their officials are "the biggest culprits," that "a time of accountability is coming, in which no one will be above the law."

Belgrade School of Philosophy professor Jovo Bakic said that the citizens - "all together, the Serbs and the Bosniaks, the Orthodox Christians and the Muslims, must take back the common good - the Republic, from those who have seized it," and pointed out that the Student Ticket's victory will be followed by a crackdown on organized crime.

Academician Radomir Saicic said that the authorities "are fighting to extend the tyranny," while the supporters of the student movement are fighting "for freedom, true values and the meaning of life," which is why they cannot lose.

The speakers at the rally, where a large banner reading "The students are winning" was set up, called on citizens to apply for observing the election, in order to prevent vote theft.

According to the rebel students, Novi Sad was chosen to kick off the campaign because it is the city where "the wave of struggle for freedom and justice" began, after the train station canopy collapse killed 16 people and left one severely injured.

The next day, on Sept. 11, the rebel students warned that fake citizen associations bearing names similar to theirs have been registered, and underscored that their ticket will be called The Student Ticket - the Students Are Winning