Opposition Protesters Demand 'Fair' Election in Serbia

In the second large protest against Serbian government and President Aleksandar Vucic in one week, thousands of protesters massed on the streets of Belgrade to demand for elections to be free and fair.

The rally comes after President Vucic earlier warned that he would not meet the demands of protesters.

Despite bad weather, the protest drew more people than the previous one on December 8, which was attended by 15,000 people according to the opposition.

Several opposition parties on Friday signed an agreement on commonly agreed conditions for free and fair elections.

The document was signed by the Alliance for Serbia, the Democratic Party of Serbia, the Social Democratic Party, the New Party, the Democratic Union of Vojvodina Hungarians, the Enough is Enough movement, the Movement of the Centre, the Civil Platform and the civic initiative Let's Not Drown Belgrade.

The key demands are the effective prevention of abuse of the electoral roll and of public resources in the campaign, control of the electoral process, including in Kosovo, control of election campaigns and during election day, and criminal sanctions against those that abuse the campaign.

In his reaction to the demands, Vucic said he would not agree to them - and hinted that he might call snap elections instead.

After the protesters gathered in the centre of Belgrade, they walked close to several key institutions, including the parliament building and the building housing the Serbian public broadcaster, RTS.

This is second anti-government protest this month, after several thousand people participated in a march called "No More Bloodied Shirts" in Belgrade on December 8, which was held after a journalist was beaten up and left with a...