Dobrica Veselinović: First the victory, then about the functions

The opposition parties that will appear on a single list called "Serbia against violence" on Wednesday evening in the extraordinary parliamentary, Belgrade, provincial and 60-odd city and municipal elections announced for December 17 agreed to joint candidate for mayor of Belgrade Vladimir Obradović, PhD, will be a professor at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences. The holder of the list in the capital will be the leader of the Green-Left Front (ZLF) Dobrica Veselinović.

They have not yet agreed on the specific allocation of functions, says Veselinović for the "Vremena" portal, there is time for that after a possible victory. And when he was already asked where he sees himself in the city government after a possible victory, it would be the position of deputy mayor with special sectors for the green and sustainable transition of Belgrade.

ZLF and he personally truly believe in team work and decision-making by consensus, which they have shown in the last few months while the parties that organized the "Serbia against violence" protests agreed on a joint appearance in the elections.

"Now the most important thing is to go to the elections in one column, to offer policies that will bring changes in Belgrade, and after the elections, and I hope we will achieve a result, we can talk about concrete functions," says Veselinović.

And Belgrade is ready for change, the people of Belgrade have shown that in the last year.

"In the beginning, the SNS assured the citizens that they had a stable majority, that they had even 60 councilors, that they would push through the entire mandate without any problems, and after a year and a half we managed to force the progressives to withdraw and call the Belgrade elections," he says. Veselinović.

He thinks that the atmosphere in Belgrade shows that the citizens are aware that no essential, structural problem has been solved, not only during this mandate, but in the past decade that the SNS and its coalition partners have been ruling in Belgrade. Regardless of personal solutions in the City, there are still problems in traffic, lack of sewage, pollution, violence that pervades the entire society.

If they win in Belgrade

This opposition coalition was brought together by the fight against violence, the cry of citizens that the situation in society is unsustainable.

"After the tragic events in Ribnikar and Mladenovac, we saw to what extent nothing is right in society, and they tried to convince us that the system had not failed." It was only under the pressure of the protests that the government began to announce preventive measures against violence, promised to deal with education and the protection of rights, but that did not happen. All of that is part of our priorities," explains the leader of the ZLF.

He points out that it is evident, not only in Belgrade, but also in all of Serbia, that the standard of living is bad, that large price increases and inflation are visible all around us. And then there is the terrible air pollution that takes lives and affects all of us and against which nothing is being done, the unbearable traffic situation, investor urbanism that runs wild and now threatens to destroy the Belgrade Fair if the megalomaniac project Belgrade does not expand to leads.

And there is also the lack of healthcare in Belgrade.

"We are now in a situation where you cannot get many health services in Belgrade, not only in the state, but also in the private sector. There are crowds everywhere, there is a long wait, it is too expensive and this affects the fact that we saw in the last census that the life expectancy in Serbia started to decrease for the first time. This is a consequence of a bad and endangered system, and these are several things that we will insist on, which we think must be done among the first."

Photo: AP Photo/Darko Vojinović

Campaign of the coalition Serbia against violence

"We are starting the campaign from Monday. I don't think our campaign has stopped, and after the announcement of the elections, which we expect next week, we will start the real campaign, which will also include collecting signatures. All this time, we have been engaged in the training of election controllers, which is very important for the entire election process, and we have been together with citizens where the public interest is being violated, we have organized meetings, protests, we have acted in the Assembly, so this comes to us as a continuation. of natural work, and what is most important, that work must continue even after the election," says Veselinović.

He adds that nothing has changed for them like when they were Ne drovimo Beograd, and then later became councilors, MPs, i.e. the Green-Left Front, we continued to do the same thing there.

The SNS give citizens packages, and the Green-Left Front?

As usual, SNS conducts the campaign almost non-stop, including frequent guest appearances by the president himself in broadcasts with a national frequency, but also pre-election "gifting" mostly to pensioners. The Green-Left Front wants a policy of clean hands, not blackmailing citizens.

"We saw that from the so-called with their own funds, various officials and employees of utility companies and other institutions of the city and the Republic visit the city of Belgrade and give these packages, which include firewood, food, vouchers for various products. I think it's a desperate move that tries to somehow buy blackmailed and disenfranchised citizens in a bad economic position, but what comes to us as information from the field from those same people is that they simply have to agree to it, but that they don't want to vote for it in the elections," says Veselinović.

He adds that their tactics should be a policy of clean hands, as well as that by their daily life and behavior, which is characterized by a kind of dignity, high moral and ethical standards, they should show that they do not want to corrupt people, they do not want to appropriate public funds, but with a different policy they must show and ensure the dignity of life and restore that public service is in fact a service in the interest of the citizens, not in the interest of the party.

What does the Green-Left Front offer in the campaign

"The change is that we conduct politics differently, we behave differently, and the citizens can tell us that. I see every day on the bus, tram on the street, that people want to have honest representatives, they want representatives to be available and to give them honest and accurate answers about what is happening around them and what can be done. One example is the fact that officials were with their citizens when something was happening, such as in the case of the tragedy in Ribnikar where no one was allowed to appear. It's not a matter of immediately having the answer to everything, sometimes it's very difficult, but sometimes you need to show humanity and emotion that says we're in this together and that together we'll find the best solution."

Caravan "Serbia against violence"

As part of the campaign, the pro-European coalition has already organized the "Serbia against violence" caravan, which goes around Serbia in cities and squares, presenting and telling who the people behind the coalition are and what their policies are.

"We now have the opportunity for the first time to speak and discuss with citizens in a public space. For me, it's better than those classic pre-election rallies where representatives of a certain group came, they listen to their leaders and that's it. This is a diversity of political actors who, in that diversity, which society also represents, say what they think, feel, and what they have to offer them. I think that is the right recipe, and not only SNS supporters who listen listen to Vučić, and there is no one who thinks otherwise," said Veselinović.

Patriotic opposition at the level of Belgrade

However, there is not only one opposition column - the pro-European coalition, but also the so-called patriotic block with which they cooperate outside, but also in the Parliament.

"So far there is no agreement between them, but there are also several variants and columns, not all organizations are in agreement and do not perform together." You have a block around Dveri and Zavetnik, you have others around DSS and let's say that in that more moderate right-wing block there is, or at least there was when we were in the Belgrade City Assembly, some more normal communication, I would say, and understanding about some general communal issues .

Read more: Opposition before the elections: Everyone in one column - you, you and you

Veselinović points out that the Green-Left Front has clear red borders that concern different values, ideological and identity issues. Their result is respectable, and from that side there must come some kind of concessions and an understanding that the majority policy in Belgrade is pro-European, more liberal and requires a look into the 21st century.

About the candidate for mayor of Belgrade

"I believe that each of us has a unique role not only in life but also in politics." I think that Vladimir Obradović is a good choice for a candidate for mayor. I believe that what I think needs to be done and resolved in Belgrade to make it a better city has always been more important to me. To revive and green, not what the specific function is, so I will focus on everything that once Ne drovimo Belgrade, and now Zeleno Left Front, has been working for years, which is the fight for clean air, for more sustainable solutions in traffic, more greenery, the inclusion of citizens in the policy for the development of Belgrade on a human scale, and I think that combination will be good," concludes Veselinović.

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