Niš, a symbol of hope

Older generations know: The winter protests against the theft of the will of the people in 1996 began in Niš. Just like today, election materials were falsified in the same city during the night. Then the citizens of Niš took to the streets, and the protests spread throughout the country. The rest is history. But - what will happen now?

Of course, the circumstances are far from similar. In addition, Milošević could bear to lose some towns, but Vučić cannot reconcile himself to the loss of the local community either.

Was the boycott - especially this partial and thus absolutely incomprehensible one - a solution? Of course not. It is the legalization of passivity in the expectation that an unexpected force will appear from somewhere and solve the problem. Until then, whoever is fine is fine, and whoever isn't, we regret the case.

The Biram borbu coalition recognized the danger of ceding political space to the regime. Because of this, she paid a high price: on one side, the progressive machinery for erasing all hope, and on the other side, the boycotting partners of yesterday from Serbia against violence. Maybe they couldn't have done better with all the troubles and disagreements that accompanied them.

Namely, the entire opposition shot itself in the knee right after the December 17 election. Then it quickly became clear that citizens in Belgrade were not properly motivated to defend the election result. So how can they agree to boycott? Not at all. That is why the boycott is most reminiscent of the "white papers" from 2012, after which the democratic and European political forces no longer stood on their feet.

But it is even more important that, after the best result since 2012, the opposition failed to launch a simultaneous campaign for new elections and fair voting conditions. If there was any of the second, the first was not. This gave citizens the impression that the opposition is only concerned with itself and coalition maneuvering. Along with the long-standing tradition of losing money, there are reasons for defections and trust in established anti-regime parties.

But the desire for change is strong, as evidenced by the success of the Movement "Start-change" led by Sava Manojlović and the Citizens' Group of Dr. Dragan Milić. The former won 17 percent of the vote in Belgrade - which is the highest individual vote in Belgrade since 2012 - and the latter the trust of a quarter of voters in Nis. Both lists owe this result to their previous activism. Citizens saw it - along with several other very important reasons - as a policy that really deals with their real and concrete problems.

But let's go back to Nis. The defense of the electoral will of Nišli is not only important for that city. She is a clear and concrete example for all of Serbia that change is possible and how it can be achieved. You have to start from something. Why not - just like in 1996 - right from Niš.