Associate Professor of the Faculty of Political Sciences Dušan Spasojević stated that some of the demands of the opposition can be fulfilled overnight, while others need more time, and that the Serbian Progressive Party will make decisions depending on "internal and external pressures".
Spasojević said that no one knows how realistic it is that the demands of the "Serbia against violence" coalition will be met, but that the opposition managed, somewhat unexpectedly, to attract considerable attention from the international community and that gave them the confidence to raise their demands and try to get the most out of it. .
"The second mechanism is domestic pressure from citizens on the street." It is currently not there, but it could also be activated if needed, and in that interlude, the progressives would decide what and how much they have to give. The requests are formulated in such a way that they simultaneously try to unpack the most important problems, such as the relocation of voters, because if this is not prevented, it will be possible to happen in all subsequent elections. This is now of key importance, while the other demands are an attempt to return Serbia to normal and be a democratic society. I'm not sure that more reduced requirements would be a guarantee of success," said Spasojevic.
He added that it is important for the opposition to carefully balance demands and threats of a boycott, so that it does not happen that it has to go to the elections under similar conditions as it had, and then explain why it did so.
When asked whether the scheduling of the elections for June 2 signaled that some of the ODIHR's recommendations could still be fulfilled, Spasojević replied that the so-called postponement of the elections for June did signal to the opposition that there was room for pressure or showed a certain weakness of the government.
"On the other hand, some of the requests can be fulfilled overnight, and some, such as the thorough revision of the voter list, take up to a year, so I would not strictly consider that delay as concession." Now one of the options is to sit down at a round table with the international community as a mediator or to find an intermediate solution, and I find the mention of the Macedonian solution interesting," said Spasojević and reminded that the solution adopted in North Macedonia strengthened the position of the opposition.
MPs of Serbia against violence today asked the authorities for a special law that includes a commission for election control, an organized voter list, equality in the media, the removal of REM and RTS management and a special law with temporary validity that would respect the recommendations of the ODIHR.
