During Milosevic's rule, the opposition needed approximately 12 years to mature and defeat the dictator. Aleksandar Vučić is pushing his eleventh year in power, and the opposition, only with the civil protests in May, is starting to show signs of maturing.
Political processes are not a matter of mere rationality and are similar to organic processes: they need time to ripen. The wound does not heal immediately, especially if it is constantly contaminated from the side, if the scab that shows the maturation of the wound is constantly removed and the wound is thus wounded anew: in its desire for absolute personal power, without the slightest thought that anything should be done for the community that gave him a mandate, Vučić tirelessly destroyed the opposition, he constantly, deliberately, consciously, with sadistic enjoyment, illegally using state resources, injured and destroyed the opposition fabric, as if it does not belong to the organism to which it belongs.
Vučić never understood, or, even worse, never wanted to understand, that institutionalized opposition is one of the most magnificent inventions of the modern age, an invention that brought public (political) freedom, and with it, private freedom, to the highest level in human history. Institutionalized opposition is the same as institutionalized criticism: you can, you have the right, you even have to criticize the government, while the critics (opposition, opposition media, citizens who do not support the government) are guaranteed safety and freedom. Such an institutional arrangement in Serbia, in its entire history that only knows the era of kingdoms and dictatorships - communist, nationalist and populist dictatorship - existed for only twelve years, from the fall of Milošević to the coming to power of Vučić.
Who with whom?
What does maturing mean in a political sense? He knows how to adapt his own ideological position to the ideological positions of other political actors. (The righteous in politics, those who know that they are the owners of the truth and, as such, do not share their truth with anyone, are just as dangerous as compulsive liars.) So far, it has not happened that the Serbian political scene, since 2012 , this is how he clearly profiles.
Political organizations on the left side of the political spectrum ("Moromo", "Together", "Movement of Free Citizens", "Democratic Party"), one that belongs to the right of the center ("Party of Freedom and Justice") and one that vacillates between moderate and extreme of the conservative gender ("People's Party"), took the responsibility of organizing citizens who, since the institutions of the system were closed to them, took to the streets. In this team, the "People's Party" stands out the most with its (incomprehensible) outbursts that are in no way different from the rhetoric of the authorities or extreme right-wing organizations, and its visibility relies above all on the courageous actions of Miroslav Aleksić. If we add to that organizations like "Kreni, kreni", as well as non-governmental organizations that resisted the pressure of the authorities, one can (actually must) think about acting within a common front.
Previous attempts have not proved to be effective because said political organizations were not ripe for joint action. Maturing, namely, does not mean only correcting one's own ideological position, but, in that correction, also preserving it. In other words, refuse cooperation with extreme right-wing organizations.
Political protests
Because of all this, there is no need to shy away from the fact that these protests are purely political in nature. Let the tragedies of May 3 and 4 be their cause - their cause is deeper and perfectly political. The gatherings against violence are a clear and clear call for the current organizers of political life to withdraw (since they cannot change) because they have clearly shown that they are not able to organize life in this community. When a sufficient number of citizens become aware of this and bring their awareness, along with their bodies, to the streets - because the critical institutions of the system are closed to them - it is a sign of political maturation. The task of the opposition, that is, the task of the people who decided to take responsibility, is to articulate the demands of the citizens and, together with them, to change those who are unable to lead the country. Since, of course, those who abused the power in every imaginable way do not think of withdrawing, it is up to the citizens and the opposition to convince them of the necessity of withdrawal. The means of persuasion, it is understood, depend only, exclusively, on the authorities.
Therefore, it is up to the mentioned political organizations to create a common front that will encourage not only the citizens of Belgrade. Their concerted action, for now, is a sign that it is possible. If they do that, they will show the hundreds of thousands of people who took to the streets four times that they are maturing politically.
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