New Government - old problems: What does the opposition expect?

After two and a half months since Milos Vucevic submitted his resignation, the public in Serbia received on Monday (April 14) morning names of new ministers the new government will be led by an endocrinologist Đuro Macut, also a member of the founding board of the new movement of the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić.

Among the names of the proposed ministers for the composition of the new Government, there are also some who have occupied various portfolios, as well as ten new persons.

The composition of the new government should be presented to the deputies on Tuesday (April 15), announced the President of the Serbian Parliament, Ana Brnabić.

Deepening the crisis and buying time

Another step towards deepening the crisis and buying the ruling party's time - this is how the representatives of the opposition with whom "Vreme" spoke comment on the composition of the new government.

Aleksandar Jovanović Ćuta from the parliamentary group Ecological Uprising says that the election of the new government is "just another attempt to make up the reality that is tragic".

As he says, he is not surprised by the names of the ministers.

"These are all the same prepared people. This is actually a transitional government. Vučić put together a transitional government whose term is short, because what is happening in Serbia and the way in which he intends to continue to rule, cannot last long. Ruling the country by force, as he (Aleksandar Vučić) envisioned, is not possible," says Jovanović.

As he adds, "it is a matter of time until this tragic circus of those who rule will last".

For Đorđe Pavićević, deputy of the Green-Left Front (ZLF), the list of ministers is not encouraging, and as he says, this government is worse than the previous one, and that the entire composition of the government is moving towards further worsening the situation and that the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) wants to maintain power by force.

"Some names are particularly problematic, for example the Minister of Justice (Nenad Vujić) who broke the law or the Minister of Education (Dejan Vuk Stanković) who already announces that they will contact the security services to attack students with all this interpretation that the fall of the canopy was a terrorist attack, not a mistake and corruption. In that sense, in the end it will turn out that the students are terrorists or that we are all terrorists, and not that they are the people who are responsible for the murder of 16 people", says Pavićević.

Miroslav Aleksić from the National Movement of Serbia says that the new government is just prolonging the agony and adding fuel to the fire.

"Aleksandar Vučić ignores the state of society, ignores the citizens of Serbia and the fact that they no longer support his policies and his government. He responds to this with a government of continuity that will change absolutely nothing, because it is completely irrelevant who personally makes it, but the messages he sends are important," says Aleksić.

Among the new names, future Minister of Education Dejan Vuk Stanković stands out.

"A man who is a permanent analyst of Pink and Informer and who openly threatens university students and professors. This can lead us to the conclusion that he will be ready to start a crackdown and repression against blocked universities at the behest of the president. They are not ready to accept reality, because they are intoxicated by the government and cannot accept that the rebellious citizens at the head of blocked universities and students will no longer accept anything. What they are doing now is not solving the crisis, but its deepening", says Aleksić.

It is interesting, he adds, that there are four names in this Government who are the founders of the Movement for the People and the State, namely Đuro Matsut and Demo Beriša and Bela Balint, and even Boris Bratina, known for burning the flag of the European Union.

"He keeps saying that someone wants to come to power through a transitional government without elections, and he brings in people from a movement that doesn't exist yet," says Aleksić.

As he adds, the most important thing today is which side of history you are on.

"They, and Macut, chose to be on the side of those who have been destroying the state of Serbia and its institutions for 13 years, on the side of crime and corruption, on the side of totalitarianism, lack of freedom, trampling on the Constitution and laws, mistreatment of Serbian citizens. They chose that side of history against the side represented by the students, which is youth, the future, perspective, patriotism, institutions, the Constitution and laws. What they are doing is driven either by personal interests or naivety. I cannot accept that Professor Macut is naive", says Aleksić.

As he explains, it is a question of lucrative motives to take the side of the autocratic regime of Aleksandar Vučić against the majority of the rebelling citizens, and above all the students, considering that he himself is a professor, at this moment, in such a rebellion in the state of Serbia.

How long could this kind of government last?

"Vremena" interlocutors do not expect such a government to last for a long time.

"I don't think this government will last long, because we already have a situation where the government cannot manage large state systems, cannot maintain public order and peace, except with great efforts to use coercion, but also that the apparatus of force is no longer blindly obedient and wants to participate in this type of conflict, so we will have some kind of prolonged crisis. The sooner the government realizes that it actually has to give in, the less we will all suffer," says Đorđe Pavićević.

As he adds, a transitional government or an emergency government is the only peaceful solution in the current situation, while all other solutions lead to conflict or potential bloodshed.

Aleksandar Jovanović Ćuta believes that it is a transitional government and that it is a matter of time how long it will last.

"It's buying time for something that has to happen, because Serbia can't be governed like this anymore", believes Aleksandar Jovanović Ćuta.

Miroslav Aleksić believes that the government, if it wanted good for the state and its citizens, would agree to discuss the transitional or expert government proposed to them.

"They did not accept it and continue to do what they have been doing for 13 years and continue to behave as if Serbia belongs to them and that they inherited it," says Aleksić.

As he adds, it is important to continue insisting on the formation of an expert or transitional government.

"I can see that the students are already talking about it. It doesn't matter what it's called, what matters is its goal, which is the conditions for holding fair and honest elections, which will have to happen at the end of this road in order to resolve the crisis, and that's why before those elections we will need a temporary transitional government, a temporary executive body. And of course, if it fails to solve the demands of the students, which should be imperative, it will be solved after the elections by a new government in free Serbia," says Aleksić.

Joint action

Jovanović expects that President Vučić will have to call for elections, and that it is up to students, professors, political parties, non-governmental organizations, trade unions, farmers, environmentalists and other organizations to come to an agreement and together create a list and program aimed at changing the regime.

"All of us together should prepare for new elections and work on electoral conditions that will certainly never be ideal. The only way for all those who are against, who really want changes, to agree and finally sit down together and make a common list."

If this does not happen, there will be no regime change, says Jovanović.

"Expecting Vučić to change anything is not realistic. There are no free institutions, no freedom of speech, no rule of law in the country ruled by Aleksandar Vučić, that is theoretically impossible. We all have to be on one side together. This requires an agreement, not fencing off all those who really want to change this," says Jovanović.

As he adds, as long as they isolate themselves from each other, those changes will not come.

"We all have to take one side together. We need an agreement for that. It depends on the students, who are the most important political factor at the moment. As far as I can see, they are getting closer to the idea that without a political solution here, their demands will not be fulfilled. While Vučić is in power, there are no free institutions. These are their demands, none of their demands will be fulfilled as long as he is in power. The only way to change him is in elections."

Miroslav Aleksić believes that everyone who wants to change the regime must unite.

"Both the opposition and students and farmers and professors and doctors and teachers are all one today. Today we all form the majority in Serbia that wants to save this country, the institutions in Serbia and its future from the usurpers. We will all have to find a way to put an end to this further destruction of Serbia and the deepening of this crisis," says Aleksić.

Government collapse and deadlines

Prime Minister Miloš Vučević's government fell at the end of January amid student protests. Vucevic is in front of the cameras resigned on January 28, but it was confirmed in the Serbian Parliament only on March 18.

Then the thirty-day deadline for the election of a new president and ministers began.

On April 6, the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, presented the proposal for the election of Đur Macut as the new representative.

The deadline for the formation of a new government expires on April 18.