site.btaSmoke Bombs, Pepper Spray Interrupt Inaugural Meeting of Zajecar Municipal Council

Smoke bombs and pepper spray interrupted the inaugural meeting of the Municipal Council in the Zajecar Municipality in eastern Serbia, according to local media reports on Wednesday. After smoke filled the hall, all municipal councilors left the room and the meeting was suspended for more than two hours, RTS reported.

Since the morning, the entrances to the Municipal Council building in Zajecar have been guarded by gendarmerie and private security.

At the beginning of the meeting, at certain moments, private security guards refused to allow some of the opposition councillors and two opposition MPs to enter, claiming that they had been ordered to do so, regional television station N1 reported.

The work of the local parliament has now resumed, but is proceeding under very difficult conditions, as opposition councillors are refusing to take their seats and are actively disrupting the proceedings, RTS reported. “This is a coup d'état,” can be heard in the chamber, N1 reported.

The agenda includes the election of the chair of the Zaychar Municipal Council.

The session is a continuation of the inaugural meeting on August 6 and was convened in accordance with the opinion of the Ministry of State Administration and Local Self-Government, despite the fact that the High Court in Zajecar issued a ruling declaring the constituent meeting of the local authorities in the municipality on August 6 illegitimate, RTS recalled.

In June, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic's We Will Not Give Serbia Away list won the partial local elections in the cities of Zajecar (Eastern Serbia) and Koseric (Western Serbia). In Kosjeric, Vucic's coalition has 14 seats, while the opposition list United for Kosjeric has 13 seats. In Zajecar, Vucic's party won 27 seats and the opposition 23.

Local elections in both municipalities were held before the mass protest in Belgrade on June 28, organized by students, at which Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic rejected the ultimatum to call early elections, and the protesters engaged in various acts of civil disobedience.