In a narrowed and devastated political field, opposition parties still fail to emerge. That is why a meeting of representatives of all opposition lists is the least they can do. There are parties that have MPs in the National Assembly plus the Proclamation plus Start-Change. They should all meet in the same place and try to agree on what to do. Nobody in Serbia cares whether someone doesn't like Đilas, Sav or Radomir
How this will be resolved is the most common question today. This means student's blockade i protests after the tragedy in Novi Sad on November 1, 2023 and the attack on the students of the Faculty of Dramatic Arts on November 22.
Two months later, in the political field, we see a social movement forming around student blockades and, for now, irreplaceable Aleksandar Vučić which has sucked the very remaining political life into itself. The Government of Serbia hardly gives any signs of life, the Parliament of Serbia does not actually work, and the opposition is somewhere on the sidelines, afraid that its actions will spoil what the students of Serbia are doing and organizing.
In such an environment and an empty political field, where we have a large and important social group that asks its institutions to work according to the law and act in accordance with the law, and one man who imposes himself as a counterweight and who still manages to keep the great part of the public sector, opposition she hid herself, became silent and seemed to be sitting on the sidelines, watching and waiting to see if anyone would remember her. Even months after the collapse of the "Serbia against violence" coalition last year, she fails to consolidate, reorganize, group and use the unity in the performance she had after the tragedy in Novi Sad, when she initiated better work of institutions with her actions. That's when, in fact, she started these protests that are shaking Serbia and which may only reach their peak in the coming days.
WHERE ARE THEY AND WHAT ARE THEY DOING?
Just two months ago, while we watched opposition representatives united in actions in front of the prosecutor's office in Novi Sad, it seemed that internal mistrust and vanity would be ignored. Also, that a single and unique political block could finally be formed as an alternative that would give citizens hope that a change of government is possible and that there is someone to do the work of running the country even without Vučić's group.
Two months later, in a narrowed and devastated political field, the opposition still does not manage to come forward, and it seems that it does not know how and where it could do it. Its activities were reduced to appearing in those media where possible, while for all TV stations with national coverage, as in the case of RTS, they either do not exist or are enemies of the state.
In that "media presentation" the regime equates them with students: they are a force controlled from the west that needs to be dealt with, but the regime is merciful and will let them destroy themselves. When it comes to the opposition, it is not a big problem; when it comes to students - it goes quite hard.
What has been missing all this time is the opposition's attempt to articulate political demands. That is, creating a political platform that could lead to the fulfillment of the students' demands, because it is obvious that this regime will not fulfill them and that it understood the demands as a demand for the removal of Vučić.
From the moment when the blockades gained momentum and when work at all major universities was really stopped, several ideas appeared as a possible form of action of the opposition. It is primarily the idea of the so-called transitional government, which was advocated in the public to the greatest extent by Zdravko Ponoš from the Srbija centar movement and Miloš Jovanović from the New DSS. This idea was repeated several times and the answer came from Vučić several times that it was better to kill him than to give them power without an election, but the idea survived and it is clear that it was discussed even within the closest circle of associates of the President of Serbia. If it were otherwise, they wouldn't even mention it - the public understood this a long time ago.
The "transitional government" should enable the conduct of free elections through equal media representation of all political actors and control of the electoral process in all aspects from beginning to end. This is what part of the opposition is advocating and what is presented in the regime media as a desire to seize power without elections. It is also clear to Vučić that the party of which he is a member has no rating in Serbia and that without his name on the ballot, it would be difficult to pass the vote. It is clear that he must not allow it.
LEARN FROM STUDENTS
Paradoxically, his fear of leaving SNS in a normal democratic race with all other parties confirms everything that is being said about him and the regime he established. And that is that, illegally and contrary to the Constitution of Serbia, he controls things that he should not, which mostly concern the spending of public money. He is also very afraid of what could happen if he remains president, and someone from the opposition leads the Government of Serbia after the free elections. Now, carried by the wave from America, by establishing "Trumpism" in the world's largest democracy, he will want to show himself as a bigger Trump than Trump, the progenitor of what is yet to happen in the USA. That is the biggest danger for Serbia.
On the other hand, those who are running to be an alternative to his government are slow to react to the events in Serbia. The opposition, of course, supports the student blockades, but they are aware that the student rebellion is not a rebellion of the opposition but a rebellion of the future. When her behavior and actions are on the table, there is actually disunity in the air. And now, what everyone will say is - there are too many vanities, there no one trusts anyone - and so on and so on. Obviously, these are the excuses of the undecided.
What is needed now, and this is a message to all those who are not in favor of this regime, is unity of the opposition in its performance and unity in its goals. Whether the "leaders" will be called this or that has become redundant. The model of student organization and performance showed how it is possible to harmonize something that seems impossible, only if the group agrees on the principles on which they base their actions.
Simply, if you are in favor of democracy and freedom of expression, you are welcome, sit down, talk and a course of action will be devised. The opposition is still a slave to "ratings" and some of the leaders believe that "the higher their rating" they carry more votes. Maybe it was like that until a year ago, but today such an attitude has been overcome. All that the opposition parties need to do is to, like their colleagues in Novi Sad for example, create a joint plan of action and act every day. They have an opponent who "doesn't take off" from television and Instagram, who has all the resources, but has lost the future because fewer and fewer people believe in his story, and the measured strength is not based on convictions but on inertia and on the fact that citizens do not see an alternative.
NOBODY LISTENS TO THE COMPLAINT ANYMORE
The latest protests by educators show that even places like Babušnica and Nova Varoša are "awakening" where even the most attentive followers of political life in Serbia could not register opposition activity. It seems that the word about the student rebellion has reached all people in Serbia, and the slander or cover-up of the regime media does not help either - everyone knows that something is happening and now political actors should translate that event into a political form. And how and who can do that when they don't talk to each other?
If they are going to engage in politics in the future and as serious people take responsibility for the recovery of Serbia if that is possible, then organizing a joint meeting of representatives of all opposition lists is the least they can do. There are parties that have MPs in the National Assembly plus the Proclamation plus Start-Change. They should all meet in the same place and try to agree on what to do. Nobody in Serbia cares whether someone doesn't like Đilas, Sav or Radomir.
This national revolt is a message for people to gather, unite and in the space that the children of Serbia have liberated, create a policy that will bring us into the ranks of countries where there is a rule of law, and not a stronger government. As it stands now, it will happen, one way or another, but the current situation is unsustainable and has already been overcome.
In order for Serbia to see that the opposition is alive and that it should be invested in, quick and decisive action is needed that can convince people that change is possible and that it will bring good to the vast majority of people. Everything else is empty excuses and cuckoos that literally no one listens to anymore. Despite the best will. In the end, Vučić once again announced the creation of some kind of his own movement, so wouldn't it be ironic if he did that, and the movement that was created by itself in Serbia remains without its political foundation?!
That would indeed be a fatal paradox.
Less than two days of blockade - that's how long it took to see how weak and powerless the public media service is, both from the outside and from the inside. At the moment of writing this text, it is the eighth day of the blockade, and the sixth that RTS is not broadcasting its program. They also seem to be facing a strike inside the house. And the essence of blocking RTS is not in what it publishes, but in what it keeps silent
In the months after the fall of the canopy in Novi Sad, the flames of rebellion spread throughout Serbia. The first protests started in Novi Sad right after the tragedy. The authorities responded with arrests, police cordons and intimidation, but instead of calming down the protesters, new protests followed.
The rector of the University of Belgrade, Vladan Đokić, has been the target of top state officials and regime tabloids for months, who label him as an insidious instigator of student protests, an opportunist, "the face of evil" and "the leader of the criminal octopus." How and why a rector became "state enemy number one"
"I'm standing in the cordon, and my daughter is shouting at me 'aw, aw, killers'. What should I do? If they ordered me - I would throw down my baton and bulletproof vest and stand on the side of my child," a police officer from the south of Serbia, who works as needed in the Belgrade Police Brigade, told "Vreme"
The recent formation of the Đura Macuta government is part of the regime's revenge and cynicism. This can be seen most in the "black troika" of new ministers appointed to deal with the parts of society that are the leaders and symbols of the big rebellion that lasted for several months, the cause of which was the fall of the canopy in Novi Sad, which claimed 16 human lives. Education, universities, unsolicited media and parts of the judiciary that refuse to listen to orders, either publicly, with announcements, or hiding behind legal procedures, should be dismantled. Those who will have no problem doing everything they are told, even reinforcing the orders with their own inventions, are chosen for this.
Who mentions the extraordinary elections when the rating of the party in power is falling, and according to all surveys, Vučić is not the most important political factor in the country, but the students?
The brutal beating of students and citizens in Novi Sad shows that the regime is not only ready to take revenge - it is actually carrying it out
If in reality the principle of balance is violated - the way the incompetent regime violated the relationship between the concrete elements at the Novi Sad Railway Station - reality will behave like a canopy: it will fail to obey
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