Belgraders gathered in the capital for what was announced as “the largest protest since the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) led by President Aleksandar Vucic came to power,” with thousands of people coming from across Serbia to join them, N1 reported.

The rally named “All as one – 1 in 5 million” was announced a month ago after the organisers of four-month-long anti-regime demonstration and Serbia’s opposition. They gave a month-long deadline to Vucic and Government to step down or face the big protest.

The organisers of the four-month-long protets made on Saturday demands which, if met, would lead to a dialogue with the authorities which they said they were ready for.

They include the forming of the joint regime and opposition commissions for defining fair and free election rules, electing new heads of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM) and new technical and editorial teams at state RTS and RTV televisions.

The demonstration started with the requests for Vucic’s resignation, six to nine months of free media, agreement on new election rules and then elections at all levels.

Vucic and his coalition parties have been accusing the opposition of an attempt to violently come to power despite that no severe violence happened in four months, except on March 16 when the opposition and people stormed the state RTS building demanding a few minute live appearances during the prime time news.

The damage included a couple of broken glass at the entrance door, but the police, which reacted a few hours later, used force to take the protesters out of the building.

After that, the courts urgently sentenced several protesters, including students and a teenager to up to 30-days in jail. They were all released, some pending a retrial after Vucic told the judiciary to let them go.

Ahead of this Saturday’s rally, the opposition Alliance for Serbia (SzS) appealed to protesters to remain calm and not to fall for any eventual provocations. The Alliance said they never intended to storm any institution.

The gathering started outside the national parliament building where a big stage was installed. Some public figures and opposition leaders are supposed to address the crowd. Inside the building, there are at least a hundred police officers as protection, together with some SNS MPs.

 Former judge of the Supreme Court Zoran Ivosevic accused Vucic of grabbing all power in his hands.
“He is a mentor, leader, advisor, educator, professor. That’s what he is within the modest authority of the president,” he told the crowd.
Ivosevic added that Vucic “conducts both domestic and foreign policy, which is the Government’s job,” Ivosevic said, adding Vucic behaved as a sovereign, violating the Constitution.

“Mr President, you must do what people demand from you during free protests – resign to enable Serbia to return to its Constitution and normal habitus,” former judge said.

Sergej Trifunovic, the leader of the Movement of Free Citizens (PSG), greeted people at the rally, saying the results of those protests would be seen in two to three years.

“Hello, free people, Serbs, Roma, Catholics, Muslims, (soccer rivals) Red Star and Partizan supporters, people from (different Serbia’s towns) Uzice, Cacak, Pirot, Leskovac, hello to all of you who came for a piece of freedom.”

Trifunovic, one of the most famous actors in the country said Vucic split “the whole state to your servants and those who have own opinion. That’s an occupying logic.”

Following the speches, the protesters walked through the city’s centre and planned to come back to the stage outside the national parliament where some opposition leaders were supposed to address them

Ahead of the Belgrade rally, two SNS high-ranking officials, Defence Minister Aleksandar Vulin and Deputy City Mayor Goran Vesic announced they would start hunger strike since “the opposition said their members would do that,” and less than 24 hours later, after being advised by Vucic, put the strike on hold until further notice.

However, the opposition never announced any hunger strike. The idea was on the table, but “more as a joke than anything serious,” an SzS member, Sanda Raskovic – Ivic said.

Reports from several places in Serbia says private bus companies which agreed to take protesters to Belgrade later cancelled the deal, explaining they were getting phone calls advising them not to offer the service.

In the town of Pancevo, some 13 kilometres north of Belgrade, public transport was cancelled “due to lack of fuel and staff,” and residents reported the taxi drivers refused to drive them to Belgrade.

Some reports said the police had stopped cars on the way to Belgrade what the Interior Ministry denied.

On Friday, SNS responded forcefully to months of civil and opposition protests and performances, sending its members to take over local institutions in several places across the country, including two opposition-controlled municipalities, over what they said was opposition violence.

They locked themselves into the City Assembly in Nis; marched into Belgrade‘s central Stari Grad municipality whose chief Marko Bastac is a fierce opponent of the city‘s Deputy Mayor Goran Vesic.

According to the opposition Democratic Party (DS), SNS activists had entered the municipality administration building in the opposition-held municipality of Paracin where they were served refreshments and offered a dialogue to clear up the situation. The SNS activists left the municipality building in Paracin after four hours.

Their colleagues in Novi Sad, where SNS has a majority, marched into the city assembly saying they were obliged to defend institutions, and the same happened in the Zrenjanin town assembly, while an SNS statement said its councillors in the town of Cacak were protecting institutions and would remain in the town hall until further notice.