BELGRADE (Reuters) -Serbia’s populist President Aleksandar Vucic called on Friday for dialogue with anti-government protesters following more than nine months of demonstrations and recent riots in the Balkan country that have challenged his rule.
In a televised address from his office in Belgrade, Vucic said he was ready to speak with the representatives of students and other anti-government protesters, including in TV debates.
“I propose … discussion and debate on all our televisions, on all our (internet) portals with legitimate representatives, that is, those they choose,” Vucic said.
Months of anti-corruption protests across Serbia, sparked by the deaths of 16 people when a roof on a renovated railway station in Novi Sad collapsed last November, have challenged the rule of Vucic and his SNS party.
“I want us to confront visions … to solve that through dialogue and conversation … no conflict, no violence. To rebuild the country again, to get it back on track where it was nine months ago,” Vucic said.
Representatives of the students did not immediately comment on Vucic’s remarks, but Savo Manojlovic, the head of the centrist opposition Move-Change party, dismissed the possibility of talks.
“A president who resorts to violence is not someone with whom you can debate about political issues, this is a … corrupt government that tramples on … democracy and human rights,” Manojlovic said.
“You don’t make a fire department with an arsonist.”
The protests were mainly peaceful until earlier this month when dozens of police officers and civilians were injured in clashes and hundreds were detained.
Protesters have blamed corruption for the Novi Sad railway station disaster and are demanding early elections in hopes of ousting Vucic and his party.
Students, opposition groups, and anti-corruption watchdogs have accused Vucic and his allies of rampant graft, ties to organized crime, using violence against political rivals, and suppressing media freedoms, allegations they deny.
(Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic, Editing by Mark Potter, Editing by William Maclean)
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