A petition signed by more than 1,500 academics in Serbia on Friday backed calls by students for early elections as the best way out of the country’s extended political crisis.
The Balkan country has been rocked by half a year of student-led protests, after 16 people were killed in November when the roof of a railway station collapsed in the northern city of Novi Sad.
Earlier this month, students called for snap elections after the government failed to meet their demands for accountability over the tragedy.
Academics backed them on Friday in the petition submitted to Serbia’s government and presidency by a delegation led by Drazen Maric of the Faculty of Economics in Subotica.
‘This is a call for the country to resolve its socio-political crisis and move towards a better future,’ said Maric.
Students have already called for a transparent investigation into the fatal incident and the prosecution of those who attacked protesters.
They also want charges against arrested students to be dropped, and an inquiry into the alleged use of a sound cannon during March demonstrations.
On 5 May, they switched to calling for early parliamentary elections.
Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic told supporters last Saturday that he was ‘done’ with students’ demands for early elections.
Elections, he added, would be held ‘within the next year and a half,’ while once again accusing the protests of being part of an attempted ‘colour revolution’.
But according to polls of 2,025 people released late April by Crta, an pollster that supports the students, 59 per cent of citizens back the students and their protests — a figure disputed by the authorities.
When the ruling nationalist party claimed victory in the last elections, held in December 2023, Vucic dismissed opposition allegations of fraud.
The recent protests have led to the resignation of the prime minister and the collapse of the government.
A new government, led by political newcomer Djuro Macut — a medical doctor — was elected by parliament in mid-April.
