Girls and boys have set a political framework for changes in the country that needs to be operationalized, it is written in the editorial of the new issue of the weekly "Vreme", which is on newsstands from Thursday, February 20, the editor-in-chief of the paper, Filip Švarm.
As he states, although the students have something to say about all this, it is not a question for them but for the opposition.
"What can the opposition do in this situation created by the rebellious students?" As it is - nothing. In order to change the country, you must first change yourself", writes Švarm.
Đorđe Vukadinović, editor-in-chief of New Serbian Political Thought, believes that it is not good if, even with good intentions, everything is placed on the shoulders of the student.
"Can those student protests topple the regime?" By themselves, no, but they can also undermine and delegitimize it, which they have largely done and are still doing," writes Vukadinović in a personal statement for the new issue of the weekly "Vreme".
As he states, no matter how attractive, these student protests are only the tip of the iceberg of general dissatisfaction with the authoritarian rule of Aleksandar Vučić, which periodically appears and breaks out in increasingly frequent, increasingly strong and increasingly dangerous waves for the government.
"There is no revolution, but there is a rebellion, spontaneous and spontaneous, for now still unorganized and mostly peaceful, which at this moment is hovering somewhere on the border between calming down and moving into the next and more violent phase. And there is a Serbia that is slowly but definitely waking up from the progressive narcosis", writes Vukadinović
Elections are the only way out.
It is already estimated that the Student Protest in Serbia is the largest protest led by students in Europe since 1968, says Slobodan G. Marković, a professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade, in an interview for the new issue of "Vremena".
Marković says that the movement, which is something quite new, without analogies 57 years ago, cannot be easily viewed and that it is even more difficult to make forecasts.
"The delegitimization of the semi-authoritarian regime was caused by one, from the point of view of the political system, non-institutional factor - the gathering of the student plenum. Plenums insist on evolution, political maturation of society and strengthening of institutions. This is all a prerequisite for fair and free elections. Only these elections can lead to a change of government. Alternatively, the government can collapse on its own, but if we look at the closest analogy with Montenegro, that is unlikely without an election," says Marković.
The only institutional way out of the current situation is preparation for free and fair elections, he says for the new issue of Vremena.
"The problem is that the part of Serbia that is on the streets, and that means all the opposition political parties, does not trust the authorities that they are ready to provide the conditions for free elections. The change in the composition of the government will not please anyone and it is just a maneuvering move by the government to avoid calling elections in which it would be the only participant. It is in the interest of the authorities to buy time and hope that the student and civic movement will subside. If the newly elected government is also short-lived, I don't see what else the government will be able to do other than to, in the end, accept the concept of a transitional government that would prepare free elections", says Marković.
The new issue of the weekly "Vreme" will hit newsstands on Thursday (February 20). You can subscribe to the print or digital edition here.
