Who is mutating and who is mutating

All those well-intentioned but also malicious critics of the election boycotters, those who did not see the purpose of the so-called the weekend of demonstrations and the boycott of the parliament, just as they do not see the purpose of announcing the boycott of the spring elections, should try to answer one question. How did it happen that the voice of President Aleksandar Vučić mutated from the sentence: "If you collect five million, I will not fulfill any of your requests" (December 2018), to the statement: "Whatever you want, we will accept everything" (September 2019)? Now, that the president is weak in keeping his word - that is a well-known fact, then and now and always, only Brussels has to believe in his word, and some thinkers here who support Vučić's policy on Kosovo "even though he doesn't know exactly what he wants" (Nenad Prokić, Utisak Sunday, May 12). With Vučić's mutations in statements on the same topic, volumes of books of similar examples could be written in a much shorter period of 10 months. During his political career, he showed an enviable ability to juggle in a triangle: I think one thing, do another, say the third.

SET OF MEASURES ON FPN

Nevertheless, the consent of the SNS to discuss, even at arranged and tense round tables about election conditions, with representatives of the opposition in the FPN,

then the arrival of David McAllister, the chairman of the Foreign Policy Committee of the European Parliament, as well as the EP's proposal on mediation between the government and the opposition, all this shows that both Brussels and official Belgrade have nevertheless admitted that "something is rotten in the state of Denmark" or Serbia, as you like. So, a lot of things are deeply wrong in Serbia, Serbia is in a serious political crisis, there is no rule of law or elementary freedom. Otherwise, why would negotiations on the improvement of election conditions, mediation of the European Parliament in talks between the government and the opposition, a set of measures proposed by the SNS be needed?

Such an indirect recognition, just ten months ago, to be fair, was pure SF for Serbia. And then city movements began on the streets of Serbia, civil, oppositional or whatever, but movements. Therefore, the protests, the exit of the opposition from the parliament and the announcement of the boycott of the elections in the spring of 2020, despite all the mistakes and omissions, still caused the patient to wake up from the coma he fell into seven years ago or at least to move the little finger on his hand. This was followed by the European Commission's report in which it was written down and a little more: unbalanced media coverage and unclear boundaries between party and state activities, non-transparency of party and election campaign financing, worrying threats and violence against journalists, lack of progress in freedom of expression, worrying political influence on the judiciary, abuse of parliament and the boycott of parliament that resulted from that abuse, as well as the protests of December 8 last year and the announcement boycott of elections due to all of the aforementioned.

And whoever in September 2019 denies the importance of the protests, the boycott of the parliament and the announcement of the boycott of the elections (in that order) in the Brussels registration of the political crisis in Serbia and the agreement of Aleksandar Vučić to make concessions, does not have to be immediately labeled as an associate of Aleksandar Vučić, it is not nice, maybe he is just trying to think profitably, calculating how to scratch the surface in the newly created situation, which can be useful for him as well, as the people say.

SET OF MEASURES IN MEDVEDJA

It is clear that, as we said, there is not much to come from Vučić's promises, nor from the set of measures proposed by SNS at the last round of talks with the opposition at the FPN. If that set of proposed measures is not actually implemented - the cat by the tail. The last example of the local elections in Medveđa is enough. Recently, Dejan Nikolić, a member of the DS, spoke about it, while the representatives of the SNS, while they were talking to a part of the opposition about the fact that they are ready to improve and sort out the voter list, at the same time coordinated a group of activists in Medveđa who, with the same voter list in their hands, which is illegal, broke into houses and counted and rounded up people - who voted, who didn't, and then, according to a well-known scenario, in jeeps without license plates, transported people to the polling station.

Rade Veljanovski, representative of the Civic Democratic Forum at the round tables at the FPN, noted: "As time goes on, there are fewer of us, and the conversation is more and more constructive - that's good, but not the fact that there are fewer representatives of the opposition," says Veljanovski, vice-president of the Civic Democratic Front, a party that was created as a response of some members of the Free Citizens Movement to the election of Sergej Trifunović as PSG leader.

The GDF made a decision to participate in the elections. In addition to them, from the opposition parties that will most likely participate in the 2020 elections, regardless of whether it is the so-called fake or real opposition, there are SRS, LSV, LDP, Party of Modern Serbia (SMS), and it is speculated that DSS, Trifunović's PSG, Šapić's SPAS will also participate in the elections. Well, now, the other day, Aleksandar Šapić said on TV N1: "We will not go to the elections even if in the next three months we become Switzerland in terms of election conditions, if it turns out that there is not enough time to present ourselves." Neither Sergej Trifunović nor Miloš Jovanović (DSS) made a definitive statement.

The presidency of the United Democratic Party announced that if that group participates in the announced dialogue between the government and the opposition with the mediation of representatives of the EP, it will not give up on the demand to respect the deadline of at least nine months from the eventual acceptance of the demands of the opposition and the team of independent experts - until the elections are held. As it was emphasized, this EU initiative came, unfortunately, too late, for the elections announced for spring. Which means that the United DS will participate in the 2020 elections if the deadline for holding the elections is postponed in the manner provided by law. The boycott was announced by Dveri, the People's Party and the Freedom and Justice Party, and the Initiative "Don't drown Belgrade" presented the Declaration on the Boycott on September 20. In it, they call on voters not to participate in what they say are fake elections, because their legitimacy is not only a party issue, but a real problem for all citizens. In short, maybe the regime of Aleksandar Vučić was forced to talk with the opposition at the FPN, and soon, with the mediation of the EP in the Assembly, they will have to make concessions and work on the election conditions (the first round of negotiations is announced for October 9 and 10), but he came out of this FPN stage again with solid maps of what Brussels helped him with and how. The opposition was divided in discussions about the boycott and the conditions for going to the elections, and Vučić, at least at this moment, has one part of it that will provide him with democratic, legitimate elections and the same kind of Assembly.

VUCIC HAS GONE DOWN?

Aleksandar Olenik, the president of the Civic Democratic Forum, tells "Vreme" that the sixth round of talks was a big surprise because Vučić gave in, in the vernacular: "If even a part of what was accepted is put into practice, the elections will be, as far as the conditions are concerned, better." We made the decision to go to the elections much earlier, however, Aleksandar Vučić's behavior only confirmed to us that our political assessment was correct, that he will have to give in and that there is no reason for a boycott. We said that the decision on boycott is made 15 days before the elections and not seven months before going to the polls. The bottom line is that the electoral conditions will not change on their own. This requires an active political struggle, such as discussions at the FPN that gave positive results, and not passivity, retreating into mouse holes and whining on social media about how bad the conditions are."

The results of the sixth round of talks are the SNS election proposals. Namely, the ruling majority undertakes that during the election campaign the abuse of public resources will be prohibited, that public gatherings and events will not be used to promote or challenge any political option or position, it undertakes to organize the voter lists, to improve the work of the REC... The measures to improve the electoral conditions to which the electoral majority is committed can be implemented within two to three months, and some even earlier, announced Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Nebojša Stefanović, head of the Labor groups for the improvement of election conditions: "Some in seven, some in 20 to 30 days." I believe that we also have enough time for measures that require a regular procedure in the Assembly", emphasizing that these are changes related to the official campaign, the media, the Agency for the fight against corruption, the Regulatory Agency for Electronic Media (REM), voter lists. In the part of the opposition, however, the one that is inclined to boycott but has not declared yet, they believe that all these deadlines are short and that the elections should be postponed until autumn. Minister Stefanović said that this is against the Constitution of Serbia.

WE DON'T TRUST THEM ANYTHING.

Predrag Voštinić from the Kraljevo Local Front, unlike Aleksandar Olenik (GDF), does not trust the regime of Aleksandar Vučić. He says that the Local Front has no confidence in what the regime says: "We cannot base any of our activism on that, we were created because people lost faith in all their promises." The fact that they have promised something now is equal to all the other promises made in the past seven years. So, absolutely nothing, as far as we're concerned. We can't think for a moment that they will improve the election conditions, even if we now have the most benevolent executive power, that would be a problem, and the people who have shown themselves to be the most malicious in the election processes so far, they are the only ones who will not do it." Although it is closer to the decision to boycott the elections, the Local Front is still "slightly restrained": "The opposition is thinking about boycotting or going to the elections, it would not be the first time that we agree on one thing, and then with I don't know how many excuses decisions start to change at the last minute. I would not be surprised if those who are now shouting 'boycott, boycott', establish that some conditions have been created and still go to the elections. When the Local Front decides whether to go to the elections or boycott, it will remain so. We are actually using this time to define what the boycott will mean, to make our own plan. The decision to boycott the elections will not be a simple decision not to participate in the elections, but what will we do so that the elections are really boycotted and the government delegitimized afterwards. That's what separates us at this point from the final decision."

A boycott is the worst solution, Voštinić is convinced, a boycott requires a lot of energy and money, it is not for the supporters of the boycott to just stay at home and wait for the results on election night. Furthermore, there will be no access to the media for the boycott. People should be prepared for the boycott and explained to them why they should not be afraid to stay at home that day, especially in smaller places where it is immediately known who did not walk to the polling station. "The opposition is not able to create a common policy that would oppose the current government, nor is it possible in the future." We can only unite in the fight against crime. Given that there is no possibility for a common policy beyond that point, a boycott could be a surrogate for a common policy. As such, he might be successful."

In the disagreements of the opposition regarding going to the polls and boycotting, neither side showed an iota of restraint in attacking the others, who, if they wanted to go to the polls, were immediately criticized as collaborators of the Vučić regime, and if they believed that a boycott was the only solution, they were accused of taking the country back to the 1990s. In the end, it ended so that Kosovo is once again the apple of the opposition's discord.

photo: media center

KOSOVO, BELGRADE AND INTERIOR

Olenik (GDF) recalls that Boško Obradović (Dveri) said that one of the goals of the boycott is to prevent the passing of a legitimate decision in the Assembly on the agreement for Kosovo.

photo: tanjug / rade prelić

"In the GDF, we believe that it is civilizationally catastrophically bad for society and the state, because the blocking of the agreement on Kosovo is directly to the detriment of all citizens of Serbia and is a continuation of the fascist orgy from the 25s carried out by Milošević, Šešelj, Vučić, and in this way that policy of the 2020s is being extended. Vučić, in our opinion, should immediately continue with the negotiations, not to hide behind taxis and to reach an agreement as soon as possible, and for that agreement to pass the Assembly and a referendum as soon as possible, and not only here but also in Pristina, Kosovo." The Civic Democratic Forum therefore supports Vučić to sign the final legally binding agreement on Kosovo as soon as possible, so that the whole society and the country can continue on the path of Euro-Atlantic integration. "If Serbia opts for a frozen conflict? Serbia signs an agreement with the Eurasian Union on October XNUMX. Every step closer to the Eurasian Union is three steps away from the European Union and Euro-Atlantic integration. Even priests leave Serbia, leave their parishes and go to the EU to earn money as drivers and provide for their families. If we want to survive as a society and a country, we will have to literally copy EU values. But, because of Kosovo, we have everything - including human rights and freedom of expression, unfree media, corruption, crime, economy. And what is the policy of the part of the opposition that wants to boycott the elections? Frozen conflict. Who will stay in Serbia while the frozen conflict lasts? No one," Olenik is convinced, and that's why he considers the boycott of the elections in the spring of XNUMX to be the worst possible solution.

photo: predrag voštinić

On the other hand, Voštinić insists that the rallying point can only be a general fight against corruption and crime, and that at the highest possible level: us or them. "Everything else belongs to political candidacy, and we will be able to do that when we have the opportunity to nominate our politicians," he is convinced. "No one from the Belgrade district can tell anyone in the Vranje (o) district when it's time for elections, because he doesn't even have the opportunity to fight for his local elections, because in that Vranje district some people live in such conditions as that Belgrade district has never seen live." And it is not right, therefore, that the Belgrade circle has a final position regarding the elections and those who decide to boycott because of the lack of freedom and inability to participate in the elections, and not because of their weakness and political immaturity, as is usually said about it," says Voštinić.

Olenik, however, recalls that in the past quarter of a century, we have had attempts at boycotts and - none of them were successful. "I always remember the elections in 2000, when the election conditions were much worse than today, when we had political murders, assassinations before those elections, Slavko Ćuruvija and Ivan Stambolić were killed, there were also two assassination attempts on Vuk Drašković, Vučić was then the Minister of Information and personally closed the media. At that moment, in such conditions, the then opposition makes a decision and goes to the elections. By coming out, they forced the regime to steal massively, because of that theft the citizens came out on October 5. If they had boycotted the elections, and they had every reason to do so, there would not have been October 5. The big difference is that then the opposition was led by Zoran Đinđić, and now it is led by Boško Obradović."

Milan Stamatović, president of the Municipality of Čajetina, president of Healthy Serbia and one of the founders of the Alliance for Serbia, is also convinced that Kosovo divided the Serbian opposition. Stamatović, who suggested that Kosovo be handed over to Russia for management, says that even within the SzS there are big differences not only in attitudes towards the Kosovo issue but also regarding the issue of joining the EU: "Kosovo is the most important issue for us. And it is difficult for different political entities to agree on that, I mean the civil and patriotic bloc. There is no agreement there. The authorities recognized this and arranged it so that the opposition itself quarrels in these talks. About the rebirth of Serbia, we all more or less agree on what and how it should be done, but the points of disagreement are Kosovo, NATO, the EU and, in fourth place, decentralization. Neither those who aspire to come to power nor those who are now in power are in the mood to commit to decentralization. And that is a key condition for the recovery of Serbia."

The leader of Healthy Serbia warns that, as always, changes will come from within Serbia. Although Zdrava Srbija is a member of the Alliance for Serbia, Stamatović told "Vreme" that he will take part in local elections, and that he will decide on parliamentary elections when the time comes, and depending on whether the basic conditions for holding fair elections will be met, that he has become passive in SzS because his first priority is local affairs and the obligations he has to his voters, and that SzS was not interested in his local problems: "For example, for the problem of water supply in municipality, or when they beat our supporters in Čajetina, that is not important to Belgrade. We are not invited to the talks, I guess the small parties from the interior are not very important to those big organizers of the talks. I don't know, further, who is competent to say who is worthy to participate in the negotiations and who is not? This inclusion of a foreign factor seems quite frivolous to me, the election conditions are in the interest of the Serbian people and not the international community and foreign observers who should prescribe or determine the rules for us, to mediate, to discipline either the government or the opposition. In the previous presidential and city elections, I called on the opposition not to go to the elections, to boycott the elections, but I remained in the minority, everyone went to the elections. The result was disastrous. Then there was an opportunity to solve something, but there was no will. Or there was no understanding."

A LESSON FROM THE BEAR

The local elections in Medvedja did not show that the ruling coalition has the will to really change something in the election conditions. That is why the question here is whether, due to the legally binding agreement on Kosovo, which requires a democratically elected Assembly in Serbia, democracy should be suspended for a while, until Kosovo is finally resolved, and then we will deal with the millions poured into the reconstruction of the Republic Square in Belgrade, the packing of rivers into pipes either on Shara or on Stara Planina, ministerial plagiarism, executors, dismissals of workers and party hiring. And, if the answer is no, do the parties that declared the boycott have the strength to protect voters in the remotest parts of Serbia from unregistered jeeps?