Tuesday's session of the Serbian parliament in Belgrade briefly turned violent after opposition MPs fired flares after a brief scuffle, causing injuries. Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic urged MPs to continue their work.
The incident, which prompted security to prevent a wider physical confrontation after some lawmakers engaged in a scuffle, caused the session to adjourn.
In the meantime, Speaker Brnabić called on the MPs to return to their desks and continue their work.
Even before the incident, lawmakers in the ruling coalition had proposed to adopt a series of laws providing relief to students and youth before taking note of the resignation of Prime Minister Miloš Vučević, which would effectively mean the fall of his cabinet.
Opposition MPs vociferously opposed the programme, arguing that there was no point in adopting laws coming from a government whose prime minister had resigned, sparking a brief row in which Brnabic eventually threw water on himself.
After the incident, Brnabić said that one of the MPs, Jasmina Obradović, had suffered a stroke as a result of the incident and that her life was in danger.
"That woman is fighting for her life after you threw a lightning bolt at her." Brnabić accused the legislators. Another MP, who is eight months pregnant, also suffered a shock, Brnabić said.
Opposition lawmakers also used plastic vuvuzelas, a plastic horn favoured by football fans, to disrupt the meeting.
Vucevic resigned in late January after months of student-led protests over the fatal collapse of an awning at a train station that killed 15 people in the northern city and regional capital Novi Sad last November.
"(Government) must demonstrate ... the highest degree of responsibility," he said in a public speech on 28 January. "In order not to further increase tensions in society, I have taken the decision I have just announced."
Both Vučević and Brnabić are from the ruling SNS party of President Aleksandar Vučić, who announced an "urgent and extensive reconstruction of the government" in response to the students' demands.
After Tuesday's incident, protesters gathered in front of the parliament building in the Serbian capital and blocked one of Belgrade's main avenues.
euronews/ gnews.cz - RoZ
PHOTO - X Sprinter Observer
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