Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić decided that on Saturday (May 17) show who's boss in Niš, the city where on March 21 the officials of his Serbian Progressive Party retreated before egg rolls enraged Nišli and canceled the scheduled party meeting. He watched it from the Nais Hotel, fifteen minutes away from the city center.
It was obvious that he had a hard time taking the tail wagging otherwise in his untouchability of budding progressives. He considered it a personal insult, an ungrateful expression of disrespect for his image and an act dangerous to the government based on his personal authority. He threatened that he would personally come to deal with "hooligans, beaters, terrorists" who, under the guise of student protests, want to demolish him.
The question remains in the air as to why the man who emphasizes his courage in almost every public appearance did not come out of the well-secured hotel to support his humiliated party comrades.
In addition to pouring water and throwing eggs at people loyal to him, Vučić is also saddened by the fact that SNS de facto lost the local elections in Niš, so he had to correct them by force, by too transparent manipulations. Mediajana, the only opposition municipality in Serbia, hates him.
How much, it was shown when the Communal Inspection of Niš Municipalities of Mediana on Friday ordered the immediate removal of the stage on which the message "We do not give Serbia" was written in large letters and other objects that were placed on the King of Milan Square for the purposes of the progressive rally without permission.
SNS ignored it and showed again that it does not care about laws and regulations.
He vowed to make order
The leader of "decent Serbia" is coming to the center of Niš, on Trg Kralja Milana, almost two months after he swore to restore order in the unruly city, of course under strictly controlled conditions under which he dares to appear in front of the people.
Decent Serbs and Serbian women from all over Serbia are arriving by organized transport to show how Nis is with its president. They will be entertained by Aca Lukas, and around 18:XNUMX Vučić will take to the microphone, which will be the highlight of the fair, similar to the three-day, nationwide fair in Belgrade, which was shortened in Niš by at least one day because nothing happened on Friday.
He invited Vučić and the citizens himself to come to a "magnificent" meeting where some local members of the Movement for the People and the State will be presented, he promised that at the meeting he would promise "new factories, new plants, new science and technology parks", all in all, that Niš will progress much faster than in the past".
The 200-meter-long Serbian tricolor will arrive with the president, because I guess whoever has the biggest flag is the biggest patriot.
Party Breakers
The unity of the leader and the people will be violated, however, by the students in the blockade who, a kilometer away from the meeting place of the next order, on Trg Kralja Aleksandra, at the same time, announced their rally called "Let's choose".
They threw another gauntlet in Vučić's face - they tell him not to be a coward and call for early parliamentary elections.
"We are addressing you with a clear and concrete request that, within the framework of your constitutional powers, in accordance with Article 109 of the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, upon the reasoned proposal of the Government, dissolve the National Assembly and call for extraordinary parliamentary elections for deputies", the students in the blockade of the University of Niš stated in a letter to Vučić. Because that would be the only peaceful way out of the deep crisis into which a divided society has fallen.
Students and citizens who are not at all enthusiastic about the progressive fair organized in Niš will gather at several locations in the city from which they will head to King Aleksandar Square.
"We invite all citizens to approach the protest calmly, with dignity and with positive energy. This is the day when our dissatisfaction will be heard better and more clearly than ever! Our goal is a strong message, not chaos - we demand the calling of extraordinary parliamentary elections! Let's show that Niš is a city of freedom, love and courage," stated the call of the Informal Group of Students in Niš.
Close encounter with a risky species
Planned or not, there will be a showdown in Nis between those who have been protesting against Vučić's illegitimate state for half a year, and those who are ready to defend it by grace or force. Close encounters of this kind between groups of supporters of one idea and another have been avoided so far.
In a wave of great tensions, irritability and intolerance, these two gatherings were certainly assessed as high-risk, although the police did not officially declare this.
Although a part of the public and critical media judged the three-day SNS meeting in Belgrade from April 11 to 13, at which Vučić's "Movement for the People and the State" was promoted, as a complete fiasco, the fact that the president is repeating the same scenario in Nis indicates that his strategists believe that it had a positive effect.
In Belgrade, the students in the blockade stayed away from the fenced area between the Parliament of Serbia and Beogradska Street. They are organizing a parallel meeting in Niš. The message is that there is no deviation in front of the progressive machinery in which all state resources and instruments of state power are harnessed.
It will be two pictures of Serbia, at the same time in one place.
