Members of the Assembly of Serbia elected Maja Gojković, a member of the presidency of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), as the Speaker of the Parliament tonight.
159 MPs voted for the election of Maja Gojković, who also held this position in the previous convocation, 73 were against, and one MP abstained.
Deputies of the Serbian Progressive Party, the Party of United Pensioners of Serbia, the Social Democratic Party of Serbia, the Socialist Movement, the Union of Vojvodina Hungarians, the Party for Democratic Action, as well as the deputies of the Socialist Party of Serbia and United Serbia voted for her election.
MPs from the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party of Serbia, the Enough is Enough movement, the Liberal Democratic Party, the Social Democratic Party, Dvera, the Serbian Radical Party and the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina were against it.
Fierce discussion: Who should be afraid of Vučić, does anyone call SNS MPs pigs...
Deputies of the Serbian Progressive Party and the Democratic Party (DS) debated in the Serbian Parliament earlier today about who should be afraid of the Prime Minister of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, and compared the events in the parliament to the book "Animal Farm" by George Orwell, after which a break of 10 minutes.
DS MP Balša Božović said that the party would not vote for Maja Gojković, who was nominated for the position of president of the parliament, because in the previous convocation, when she was the head of that institution, she had a bad attitude towards the opposition and avoided scheduling a special session where the prime minister should answer parliamentary questions.
"The attitude towards the government was servile, and towards the opposition vengeful. Gojković established the rule of democracy that was still valid only in George Orwell's "Animal Farm", where everyone is supposedly equal, but oh my God, some are more equal than others." , said Bozovic.
He said that Maja Gojković was responsible for the fact that, when a special session is held on the last Thursday of the month, the prime minister asks more questions from the deputies than the deputies ask the prime minister.
"At the core of every authoritative figure and media darkness and dictatorship lies the fear of arguments, asking questions and the truth. I would ask Maja Gojković not to be afraid of the executive power, even though she has shown fear countless times so far," said Božović.
Serbian Progressive Party deputy Aleksandar Marković reacted to these allegations by stating that his predecessor spoke about fear and that he understands it because "he would be afraid of Aleksandar Vučić if he were in his place."
He also pointed out that Maja Gojković raised the quality and level of work in the parliament in the previous convocation and that only those who are against raising the political and parliamentary culture in Serbia are against her.
"Those who take phantom coins out of their pockets will not vote for her. Each of them has one phantom ready, it's a symbol of their political culture," Marković said, adding that those who barely passed the census and for whom they only matter parliamentary salaries and parliamentary restaurant.
DS President Bojan Pajtić then asked Marković why Balša Božović should be afraid of the Prime Minister of Serbia and what is the function of the Prime Minister, when he can pose a danger to any MP.
"The deputy is a representative of the citizens, Balša Božović has no reason to be afraid, but you, of what you are turning the country into a dictatorship," replied Pajtić.
The head of the SNS parliamentary group, Aleksandar Martinović, also reacted by stating that Dragoljub Mićunović (DS) was leading the session in a scandalous manner and resented that he did not admonish Božović, when he mentioned the "Animal Farm" and compared the deputies sitting behind him to pigs.
"Are you saying that all these people sitting behind me are pigs," asked Martinović.
He asked Pajtić when he was going to return the stolen money from developmentally disabled children, amounting to more than a million euros, and reminded him of how the Democratic Party came to power in 2000 and pointed out that they burned down the Parliament.
"The DS set fire to this assembly, took away artistic pictures, invaded with phantoms and 16 years later they call SNS MPs pigs, because pigs rule in an animal farm," said Martinović and asked Mićunović why he allows insults.
"Obviously, Martinović didn't understand Orwell's metaphor, he wrote about people. He was my student and I'm sorry that I didn't educate him while he was my student," Pajtić replied.
After that, several deputies expressed their dissatisfaction with the way Mićunović was leading the session, including Maja Gojković, whom Mićunović turned off the microphone at the end.
Since the situation did not calm down, Mićunović ordered a 10-minute break and called for consultations and said that he would not work longer than 20 p.m. tonight, and Martinović, before Mićunović took a break, said that it had just been broadcast on television that Bojan Pajtić cursed .
Martinović said that Pajtić cursed the chairman Dragoljub Mićunović.
Pajtić stated that it is not true that he cursed in the assembly hall, but that he "physiologically reacted" to the accusations that he stole from children with special needs.
"I reacted physiologically to the accusations that I stole from children with special needs, and no one can remain cool about that. I'm sorry that someone heard something I said about myself," Pajtić told reporters in the Serbian Parliament, adding that the DS has no intention to offend anyone.
Pajtić assessed that the election for the President of the Assembly turned into harassment of the opposition and that this shows how the government will treat the opposition.
"We witnessed that the debate on the election of the Speaker of the Parliament turned into harassment of the opposition, which lasted for 10 hours on Friday, and for hours today... We are the target of attacks all the time, when Martinović makes accusations that we are criminals, that we burned down the Parliament, that we steal from children with special needs," said Pajtić.
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