Representatives of civil society initiatives have meanwhile begun collecting signatures against the planned utility price increases today. They are situated in front of the main municipality building in Maribor.

Citizens have condemned the extreme austerity measures by Maribor officials. They say that the pre-election promises by the new mayor Andrej Fištravec have been completely forgotten.

A civil initiative called “Equal Opportunities for all” says that the budgetary hole was not made by citizens and that they are not the ones who should pay for it. They also stressed if municipal officials would not heed their call, new protests were imminent.

Two years ago the mayoral position has been taken away from Franc Kangler due to pressure from several rallies.