About 30,000 people gathered on Friday evening at an opposition rally in Novi Sad, the main city in Vojvodina, protesting against the alleged separatism of the provincial government.

The protest was headed by the Progressives and Socialists, which govern the country nationally but form the opposition in the province.

They were supported by the Democratic Party of Serbia, New Serbia, the Social Democratic Party of Serbia, the Serbian Renewal Movement, the Movement of Socialists and the far-right organisation, Obraz.

They demanded the withdrawal of a declaration on Vojvodina’s rights, the resignation of Vojvodina’s Prime Minister, Bojan Pajtic, and early elections in the province.

Opposition parties scheduled the rally after the provincial government sent the regional parliament a draft “Declaration on the Protection of [Vojvodina’s] Constitutional and Legal Rights”.

This accused the government in Belgrade of violating the rights and competencies of institutions in the province.

Opposition parties said the declaration was tantamount to a call for secession.

After the protesters gathered in front of the provincial government, they walked through the city without incident.

Novi Sad’s Mayor, Milos Vucevic, a member of the Progressives, said Pajtic did not represent the people of the province and had delivered poor results.

Igor Mirovic, vice-president of the Progressives, said the protest showed the will of the people for change.

“Serbia got a new president and government last year, it is now time for changes in Vojvodina,” he said, referring to Tomislav Nikolic and the Progressive-dominated government in Belgrade.

Vucevic said new elections were needed, announcing new protests if the demand was not met.

The Democratic Party-led government of the province denied the accusation of separatism and accused the Progressives of aiming to seize power in Vojvodina.

Miroslav Vasic, president of Democrats’ main board in Vojvodina, said the people at the rally came from all over Serbia, and most of those who demanded change in Vojvodina were not from the province.

“People who came to Novi Sad from other parts of Serbia have the same right to demand a change of government in Vojvodina as Novi Sad citizens would have to change the mayor of Vranje [in south Serbia,” Vasin said.

Dragan Djilas, head of the Democratic Party, called on the government to stop libeling Vojvodina’s government as enemies of Serbia.

“The Prime Minister should sit down with Vojvodina’s Prime Minister and solve the problems that obviously exist,” Djilas said on Friday.

After the May 6 general and local elections, the Socialists and Progressives formed a national government in Belgrade.

But the former ruling Democrats retained power in Vojvodina and numerous municipalities.

At the Progressive Party’s Main Board meeting on August 26, 2012, the party leaders resolved to seize power in several local authorities.

Since then, the Progressives have brought down several Democrat-led local authorities across the country.

Last September, they also ousted the Democrat mayor of Novi Sad, after 20 hours of stormy debate in the city assembly.