Labelling, insults, covert and open threats to NGO activists, accusations of planning a coup and conspiracy against the President Vučić, counting squares metres of apartments, presenting personal data with an oddball invitation to citizens to inquire where those who criticise the Government’s moves live and work – all this was heard in the Assembly of Serbia this week, too.
Frequent violations of the Code of Conduct for MPs, through insults at the expense of dissidents and the absence of reaction from the Speakers – marked this sitting of the Assembly. Although on the first day of the debate on the Law on Climate Change, it seemed that the MPs would really talk about the agenda, it did not last for long. The head of the parliamentary group of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, Aleksandar Martinović, opened the season with a series of accusations and untruths against the non-governmental organisation CRTA and the KRIK portal.
“Go find out, my dear fellow MPs and, you, Serbian citizens, where the headquarters of this CRTA [organisation] are. Do you know where their headquarters are? In Dedinje. The villa in which they are located, can hardly be compared, I think, to the facilities in which the embassies of the most powerful countries in the world are situated. Apartments in which heads of non-governmental organisations, opponents of the hated, despotic Vučić’s regime live have each 150, 200 or who knows how many square metres.”
After his performance, everything seemed to be allowed. However, the focus of this specific hate speech shifted the next day to one of the leaders of the opposition, Dragan Đilas, and the alleged evidence that he was hiding money in Mauritius.
“About the amendments, MP Nebojša Bakarec”.
“I will talk about these amendments and they are really a valuable help in improving this law. I’ve read all three carefully, they are really great. And I would say that the public space climate pollution that originates from Dragan Đilas is becoming more and more unbearable. Đilas emits more methane than all emitters combined, and I really must point out to the representatives of the ministry that Đilas creates a terrible climate.”
“When someone insults Dragan Đilas he whines, cries, sues, wins verdicts through his people in court, but that’s another topic, I don’t want to take much of the time now, we’ll talk about this next week.”
“My colleague Bakarec was completely right. The biggest polluter of the environment, something that is more dangerous than nuclear waste, is Dragan Đilas. A criminal, a motivator for mobsters and murderers, for those who would like to see the severed head of the Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić. That biggest fraudster and thief also attacked women here.”
“He has money not only in Mauritius and Switzerland, but who knows in which other destinations around the world. That is why the attacks on President Vučić under the control of Dragan Đilas are increasingly intense as they’re combined with tycoon-mafia-political groups.”
After each address, the deputy Speaker Elvira Kovač simply thanked the MPs.
For the Open Parliament Mirjana Nikolić.