Ruling party officials blast anti-violence protest organizers

darija kisić tepavčević
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Two high-ranking officials of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) blasted the opposition for organizing a protest against violence on Monday evening.

The protest was called by several opposition parties following the mass killing at a Belgrade elementary school but it will not include any speakers and no political party insignia. The organizers demanded an immediate end to the promotion of violence in the media, dismissal of the ministers of education and internal affairs and the head of the Security Information Agency (BIA) as well as a session of parliament to discuss the responsibility of the government.

Parliament Speaker Vladimir Orlic and Family Care and Demography Minister Darija Kisic spoke out against the protest, labeling it anti-Serbia and a self-promotion for the opposition.

Orlic told the pro-regime TV Pink that the opposition is using the school shooting and later mass killing “in a sly and selfish way for political battle”. He added that the protest is meaningless and is being used to justify preconceived views.

Kisic told the pro-government TV Prva that the opposition parties are actually opposition to Serbia. According to her, the protest is being organized because there is no concrete plan for Serbia’s progress using the same strategy as for the earlier ecological protests.

“There are people who immediately tried to use the pain for political purposes. Those parties in the opposition are the opposition to Serbia,” she said.

Pro-regime media have been blasting the opposition for calling the protest against violence for several days.