Leader of the newly formed Movement for the decentralization of Serbia dr Dragan Milić during the session of the Niš City Assembly, he praised Prime Minister Miloš Vučević, saying that he "led Novi Sad superbly" and that as a reward for that he received the prime ministership.
Milić spoke to his colleague from the opposition Djordje Stankovic (NPS), which opposes the idea of abolishing the municipalities in Niš, said that the entire Serbian Progressive Party will support the idea of the group of citizens "Doctor Dragan Milić". He then read Vučević's statement from 2019, when, as the mayor of Novi Sad, he said that he does not support the division of that city into municipalities "because that would make it even more complicated to make certain decisions at the local level." As an example of a bad solution, Vucevic cited Nis.
"I thank Mr. Vučević for supporting the position of the citizen group 'Doctor Dragan Milić', for supporting our idea, and I have no doubt that SNS will support it, because Mr. Vučević saw the disaster and cataclysm of dividing Novi Sad into municipalities." The man led Novi Sad superbly, as a reward he received the position of prime minister, and here we can't get literally anything. Therefore, you have to learn in SNS, this Niš, how to fight for your city, someone in that Belgrade will recognize you, believe me", said Milić from the podium.
Alarm for the opposition
Milić's statement provoked criticism from a part of the opposition public, and Vladimir Vrsajkov, the head of the Novi Sad SSP board, reacted and asked Milić to apologize for these words.
Nevertheless, Milić claims for "Danas" that his words addressed to Đorđe Stanković are ironic, and that the excerpt of his speech was taken out of context. He, on the other hand, repeats again that Vucevic's decision to abolish municipalities in Novi Sad is a good one.
"There are a total of five municipalities in Niš, there are none in Novi Sad. In Niš, those five municipalities gnaw, eat and devour the budget of the citizens of Niš of over one billion dinars", he explains.
That's how Milić became a kind of phenomenon - an opposition member who praises the government's moves is an almost unprecedented phenomenon in the recent history of Serbia.
Of course, the same is the case on the other side - the Serbian Progressive Party is waging a continuous war against the opposition, sometimes from the parliamentary benches, sometimes through the tabloids. The two sides are so sharply polarized that if someone finds himself in the middle, it is very likely that he himself will be the subject of attacks from different sides.
The doctor from Niš is like an oppositionist - when the opposition must already exist - certainly according to Vučić's system: nothing upsets the progressives as much as mass protests against the theft of elections - the doctor is expressly against demonstrations; SNS has completely centralized Serbia, contrary to the basis of any democratic system, and here is Milić, who would like to centralize Nis.
Different methods
Milić introduced a different approach to the Serbian political scene, with which he addresses the wavering voters of the SNS and SPS - "he does not directly attack Aleksandar Vučić, whom they love, he attacks the lower echelons of the government, which they also hate, he does not support the protests that they against... And this statement about Vučević fits into that template," commented political scientist Branislav Ivković on the X social network.
Bojan Klačar, program director of Cesid, tells "Blic" that Milić's deliberate technique is not to be an oppositionist identical to the majority of established contenders for power.
"He will not consciously do that, it is his strategic decision and he does not want to foster criticism at all costs." And that's why his tactics were condemned, it doesn't fit into the projected image of the opposition," notes Klačar.
He adds that both the government and the opposition "are very critical if the actors do not behave according to the framework they set."
"The opposition has frameworks, to always be in power, to always be in favor of protests, you emphasize certain topics, and every actor who fits into that is criticized." That's why nobody likes his statements, especially the opposition," Klačar points out.
As much as Milić's approach is different, his results are the same as those of the rest of the opposition, if the municipal government in Mediana is not counted as a glamorous victory. After insisting that they were at the city level elections stolen, he "wisely" left the victory to the progressives practically without a fight, with the ritual filing of lawsuits.
What does Milić say about the accusations?
Recently interview for "Vreme" Milić responded to accusations that he and PODES are a "Trojan horse" of the government and called on everyone who thinks so not to vote for PODES and "save your soul".
"If we are a 'Trojan horse', explain to me why we formed the government in Mediana with the opposition and not with the Serbian Progressive Party?" The 'Trojan horse' was in the Belgrade municipality of Stari Grad, and in other places. Nowhere except in Mediana did the opposition form a government, because we ran over them like a shallow stream and inflicted a brutal defeat on them. "If we were 'Trojan horses', I guess we would have found some excuse for cooperation with SNS, so now Media is bothering them," said Milić.
He reminded that some call PODES populists because they abolished official vehicles and representation in bars.
"I repeat, whoever wants politicians to drive 'Audi' A6, A8 and A12, should vote for those parties, not for 'populist' parties." Everyone was a bit scared, when a new force appears on the political scene, they immediately have to accuse, smear and defame it because they are afraid that that party will steal the votes. "It says more about their insecurity about their own politics than it does about us," Milić added.
Cooperation with everyone who is in favor of a change of government
In the same conversation, the opposition member from Nis pointed out that PODES is ready to cooperate with "everyone who is in favor of changing this government".
"Right-wing parties are not close to me, and we are predominantly a party of the center, maybe a little to the left, because we stand for free education and free treatment." However, every party that wants to return the country to the people is an ally for us," said Milić.
He explained that this implies cooperation "with anyone who wants to cross paths with crime deeply rooted in all state institutions" and with everyone who wants "to respect the Constitution and laws of this state."
He added that PODES will be an ally "everyone who wants this to be a country of rights, not private or party property."
"Our program is to restore people's dignity," Milić concluded.
He did not explain how there can be any changes if you say that you won the elections in a corrupt state where there is no rule of law, that you were robbed, and then all you do is pin your hopes on just such a legal state.
Sources: Danas/Blic
