Serbia’s protesting students demand a snap election

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BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia’s protesting university students are demanding a snap election after months of anti-corruption demonstrations that have shaken populist President Aleksandar Vucic’s tight grip on power in the Balkan country.

A statement posted to a joint social media account late Monday said that an early vote is the only way out of a deep political crisis in Serbia triggered by a train station disaster that killed 16 people on Nov. 1, which was widely blamed on government corruption.

The station building in the northern city of Novi Sad had been renovated twice before its concrete canopy crashed on the people below. Critics said graft-fueled negligence and disrespect for safety rules caused the huge construction to collapse.

The disaster sparked months of protests demanding justice and the rule of law, which have garnered huge support among Serbia’s citizens drawing hundreds of thousands of people.

“Government corruption is so deeply rooted in state institutions that they are unable perform their duties independently,” the protesting students said. “We believe that democracy is the only right way to solve a political crisis of such proportions.”

A snap election would entail dissolving of the populist-dominated parliament and scheduling the early vote. The ruling Serbian Progressive Party leader and former Prime Minister Milos Vucevic has rejected the idea, saying it would spell a “disaster” for the country.

Vucic, a right-wing populist whom critics accuse of stifling democratic freedoms, has alleged the student protesters were staging a “color revolution” under orders from the West. Vucic is formally saying he wants Serbia to join the European Union while boosting ties with Russia and China.

Serbia’s protesting students post statements and protest announcements on the joint social media account Students in Blockade. They have no leaders or spokespersons and make decisions at faculty plenary sessions.