Branko Ruzic, vice president of the Main Board Socialist Party of Serbia, is currently a privileged man. He is still part of the ruling coalition, but everyone knows him as a "dissident" who can even show up at a big protest on March 15 without anyone cracking his head.
In an interview for "Vreme", which hits the newsstands on Thursday (March 27), Ružić strikingly talks about a "social moment" that should be recognized. The situation is not good, or maybe he doesn't have rose-colored glasses, he says.
In the conversation, it becomes clear that there is nothing from the transitional government, as the opposition is looking for. He admires the students, he says, but thinks that they should fill the political void and bring the matter to an end institutionally.
"I expect a new government to be formed, so it would be logical for the students to delegate a group of people who would discuss the election conditions, the media, the situation in the judiciary, to talk about it with the relevant ministries. Through that dialogue, the situation could be reconciled and election conditions would be acceptable to everyone," says Ružić.
It is not transitory, but as if it is
If it were wise, he adds, the new mandate would be someone who has autonomy in relation to the person proposing him - President Aleksandar Vučić.
"That representative would have to have a clear goal and mandate - to say publicly that his task is to solve the political crisis in the ways I described. That the Government should not be bulky, that there should be no quotas due to coalition partners and that it should be reduced to basic ministries. That would make the Government 'transitional'," adds Ružić.
And again, "it is more likely, from the perspective of the one who gives the mandate, that the Government will still be in full capacity and for the duration. But then I don't know how to reach a solution, although that does not exclude the possibility of dialogue."
We talked with Ružić about whether his performance is actually a game of good and bad cop with Ivica Dačić, whether we have a "rebellion of the rich" in Serbia, as the president says, and who and why created Ćaciland in Pionirski Park.
Read the entire interview with Branko Ružić in the new issue of "Vremena" from Thursday (March 27) or subscribe to the print or digital edition.
