Fifty-five minutes.
That's how long the session of the Municipal Assembly lasted Kula held on Tuesday (June 9). In those 55 minutes, there was also a half-hour break. Opposition from the "Voice of the Youth of the Kula Municipality" list did not wait until the end of the session. After the councilors of the opposition lists left the hall, the ruling majority continued its work and elected the members of the parliamentary bodies.
The quorum, however, was provided by people who had not yet been confirmed as councilors, but had yet to replace those whose mandates ended due to the assumption of executive functions.
For the government, it is about enforcing the law. For the opposition, about the violation of procedures and proving that the new-old local government does not have full legitimacy.
The dispute over the quorum is only the latest episode of the political crisis in Kula that has been ongoing since the constitution of the local parliament. Even during the election of the President of the Municipal Assembly, it became clear that the new majority is not nearly as comfortable as the previous ones. Velibor Milojičić was elected only after several rounds of voting, with a minimal advantage over the opposition. A few weeks later, Vesna Tomić, until recently the director of the Health Center, was elected as the president of the municipality. Both sessions were secured by the Police Intervention Unit.
At first glance, it seems like another local political conflict. However, today the Tower is much more than that. It is perhaps the best example of what happened in the ten cities and municipalities where local elections were held on March 29.
New faces of the old government
Of the ten local governments where elections were held - Bor, Arandjelovac, Bajina Bašta, Kula, Knjaževac, Kladovo, Lucani, Majdanpek, Smederevska Palanka and Sevojno - none of them changed their government.
Coalitions led by Serbian progressive party they kept the majority everywhere they voted - but everywhere the opposition grew considerably.
In six out of ten places, municipal presidents or mayors have changed.
Radiša Petković succeeded Aleksandar Milikić in Bor. In Arandjelovac, Bojan Radović was replaced by Goran Orlić. In Kladovo, Goran Matović was elected instead of Saša Nikolić. In Majdanpek, Dragan Popović was succeeded by Peko Minić. In Lučani, after the long-term rule of Milivoj Dolović, Milija Milenković was elected as the mayor of the municipality. Vesna Tomić succeeded Damjan Miljanić in Kula.
Only four local governments kept the same first people: Milenko Ordagić in Bajina Bašta, Milan Đokić in Knjaževac, Nikola Vučen in Smederevska Palanka and Mirjana Đurić in Sevojno.
Mere statistics or a clear message from local elections
At first glance, this information may seem like a mere personnel statistic. But it is perhaps the most important political message of the March elections.
After more than a decade of dominance, SNS is facing a problem that accompanies any long-term government, especially one that is mired in corruption: local leaders are becoming both its biggest strength and its biggest burden. The longer they are in office, the more citizens associate them with all local problems - from run-down streets and communal breakdowns, to party recruitment and political closure of the system.
To all that, we should add the students who woke up even the smallest places in Serbia.
Close votes, disputes over councilor mandates, mutual accusations of the government and the opposition, and the boycott of parliamentary sessions indicate that political relations in many areas have become more tense and uncertain than before. The government survived, but its position is far less comfortable than four years ago.
Therefore, it would be wrong to say that nothing happened after the elections on March 29. The government did remain the same. But the government, which remained the same, apparently decided that it could not look the same as before.
And the crown is yet to come - once the parliamentary and presidential elections are announced.
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