Serbia's Progressives Hold Rally in Belgrade

SNS leader Tomislav Nikolic at Saturday's rally in Belgrade I Photo by FoNet

Tomislav Nikolic, the leader of the Serbian Progressive Party, SNS, announced he started a hunger strike today and will continue it until President Boris Tadic announces the date of early parliamentary elections.

"I haven't taken any water or food since this morning," Nikolic said.

The Progressives have asked that the government call early elections for December.

The opposition rally, dubbed “Day for changes”,  started at noon with songs of Serbian rock'n'roll bands.

Several thousand SNS supporters, led by drummers wearing shirts which say SNS and "Forward to the elections", crossed Belgrade's main bridge at noon and joined the crowd in front of the parliamentary building carrying flags and banners that read: "It is time for change".

The party's vice-president, Aleksandar Vucic, officially opened the protest with an appeal for a peaceful rally.

"The regime cannot destroy the people's energy and resistance with their dirty lies and newspapers, because no one can win over the people, so neither will the [ruling Democrats] DS, [Socialists] SPS and G17 Plus," Vucic told the crowds, which he estimated reached some 120,000 people. There have been no official estimates of the number of protesters at Saturday's rally. 

Vucic repeated the party's demand for early elections, telling the rally that snap polls would allow the opposition to pull Serbia out of the crisis it is facing.

Tens of thousands of supporters gathered at the Progressives' rally I Photo by FoNet

"SNS's programme is to bring in foreign investors, make new laws, combat corruption and crime and pull Serbia out of the biggest crisis it has ever seen," Vucic said.

There was a heavy police presence in the city centre during the rally, and no incidents were reported. 

The Progressives have been pushing for early polls for the past several months, honing in on living standards as their flagship issue.

Serbians have been hit hard by the economic crisis, and it appears that many seek a change of direction at the top. Almost a quarter of a million people have lost their jobs in the past two years, raising unemployment to 19 per cent.

Analysts say that's partly the reason the Progressives gathered a crowd of 50,000 in Belgrade in February in support of this demand.

According to recent polls, about 37 per cent of eligible voters would vote for the party in an election, while only 28 per cent would vote for the ruling Democrats. The survey was carried out by research agency Factor Plus from March 22 until April 6, on a sample of 1,500 people.

Nikolic has denied any chance of the protesters taking over public institutions, adding that Serbia is ripe for a political change and enthusiasm for the EU has declined.