On October 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus reached America on three Spanish ships, the Niña, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. He believed he had sailed to India, and found himself in the Bahamas. That Michaelmas summer was not bad for Columbus, if you really believe you are in India, then you call the people Indians.
The Government of Serbia, in the past week, discovered Nis and a large part of the South of Serbia along the way. She disembarked ascetically (or perhaps protestantly) modestly in the Niš barracks and hurriedly began her work tour. As if a Pokemon hunt had begun, the ministers scattered looking for public enterprises, factories, schools or institutions to visit and promise help. Truth be told, Minister Zorana started before the shot of the judge, i.e. the Prime Minister, and almost a day before she visited the Airport and the railway that "with 5 ramps" goes through Nis. Everyone found something, I just had the impression that Mr. Krkobabić was left without a portfolio and without a topic, so it was give what you give. Finally, he also took a picture in the library and promised help for its renovation. All faith.
The most media attention was attracted by Edi Rama, who sailed around the world from Tirana, via Belgrade - to Nis. In addition, the Prime Minister brought all the journalists and spectators back to the time of military service, because the Government was located in the barracks. That's where the historic interview for the show 150 Minutes took place, where everything looked as if the host had come to visit the recruit, so he didn't get an exit to the city and now they're walking around the park near the registration desk. Even some dzombes passed by, carrying those yellow-green striped towels from the laundry room folded to the width of their caps.
And there was no shortage of journalists. If they saved money on accommodation, they didn't save money on the media. According to unofficial information, RTS had 31 people on the ground and correspondents from the south of Serbia in Niš and Leskovac. There were also crews (about ten people) for Prva and B92, as well as Television Pink. This visit thus revealed how engaged the media are in the daily monitoring of our government. If you add to that the broadcasts of the Assembly sessions on another program of RTS, the viewers only have a few hours left for singing competitions and TV shows.
Probably the most dramatic part of the reality show from Nis was the "paparazzo" video where the Prime Minister criticizes the mayor of Nis. This one stands still, with his head bowed, while the Boss repeats to him: "50 million, 50 million eurosaaaa". It is a minus in the Niš city budget. Who my lieutenant, when I was going to the report, and your head was bent so that he wouldn't see how you were going to burst out laughing. But it was another time.
During that time in the Assembly, it was as if the absence of the Executive Power was felt, and the members of the REM Council were voted for. I understand the concern, there are five names, and the MPs have to guess exactly the two for which the Government said Amen! To avoid confusion, a bell was introduced - so when Maja Gojković reads out a name and opens the voting, the members of the ruling majority listen to see if she rang the bell. If it is - you vote "Yes", if it is not - in other words, you abstain. These new MPs, from Dveri and DJB, in the language of the Niš barracks, lizards, died of laughter, applauded, threw insults - you are not sheep, you don't need bells, and some mangupis even recorded Maja's bell on their mobile phones and mocked the ruling majority. It's not friendly. However, more experienced members of parliament claim that bell voting was discovered during the rule of the DS. It will turn out that everything was already planned in the era of Boris Tadić, and it comes to him like when you don't know who discovered something, gunpowder, paper, block 70 - feel free to say - the Chinese! There is the least chance that you will make a mistake. And the media, hand to heart, wrongly accused the Prime Minister of insulting women giving birth by calling them non-workers - which was later spread on social networks in such a twisted way.
At the end of this government visit, Vučić and the ministers of agriculture and health remained in the barracks. Farmers were the best soldiers even in my time, the peasant loves the army, and the Minister of Health was banned from leaving the city after the tragedy in Loznica. Many promises have been sown, we will see what will come of it. It is certainly good for the executive power to get to know the citizens' problems better, but perhaps not exactly in the form of those sessions where citizens personally come to the Prime Minister to solve their problems. Even Palma doesn't do that anymore.
It's nice that the citizens of Serbia, including members of the Government, realize that just three hours from Belgrade there is a city that has a university, a good geographical position, fertile land, a failed industry and a famous library. And when they ran out of topics, fellow journalists attacked the Niš burek. Both figuratively and literally.
If I were from Niš, I believe that this unveiling of Niš on Michaelmas 2016 would seem a little tasteless. I would feel like a Columbus Indian.
