The Serbian opposition is well on its way to miss an opportunity by not engaging in politics, not knowing how to come to an agreement and repeating the disastrous formula "first to fulfill student demands"
"Opposition must get out of the lee student and popular rebellion. Not to take over that rebellion, but to listen to the will of the people and try to channel it into a demand that will return Serbia to the political age. So that in two or three weeks he comes before the citizens with an offer. And before the government with demands."
Sorry, this is a self-quotation. From a comment I wrote on this site over a month ago.
In other words, the opposition overslept again. Fragmented, demonized and marginalized - not only by the government and its media, but also by the students - she did not even manage to sit down at the table, let alone come before the citizens with an offer, and before the government with demands.
Wanted: Goldfish
The only thing that is heard now is "first the government should fulfill the student demands, and then the transitional government!"
How would that even work? Let's say that the students assess that the requirements have been met and at the plenums, consistently, they vote to end the blockades.
Then, when students return to lectures and exams, when teachers and lawyers return to work, when citizens return to their lives, only then will the opposition come and say "now we want a transitional government!"
Not even a goldfish would have fulfilled that for them, let alone the cynical power strategist Vučić, and that at the moment when he finally got rid of the student rebellion, the biggest threat to his regime since he was in power.
The fear of the opposition is understandable. The rebellion is first student and then popular. The opposition in it is not even a rhythm section. The somewhat childish and overly explicit separation of students from political parties may have brought more trouble to the opposition than to Vučić.
Now our opposition is in a dark place. He can't talk to students. If he makes a move on his own, he will take a risk. If he does not pull, he will miss the chance.
What students need to understand
The opposition is afraid that someone will accuse them of riding on the student rebellion, of "taking over the protests".
Although the fear is justified, the opposition is not here to be comfortable but to engage in politics. To formulate a political demand - say, a transitional government immediately, and then elections. Immediately, while the rebellion is still going on, let the students assess whether and when the demands have been met.
The youth, on the other hand, would be wise to see that no amount of "fulfillment" of demands will take them as far as they need to - to the head of the party octopus. Vučić can give them a tentacle, but not himself.
To see, therefore, that the very essence of their demand and the reason for the rebellion is the system as such. And that he changes only politically (since I have not yet heard that someone wants to take a rifle and go to the forest). And that opposition is needed for that.
Fear is deeper than hope. It seems that the opposition will now, perhaps reluctantly, wait for ProGlas to tell them what to do.
Vučić may overtake them. He'll do whatever it takes to get the students to say "requirements are met," he'll play on time because he knows this can't last forever. If his cards match, he will call for another rigged election sometime in April.
It is astonishing that even in this situation, when he is cornered, Vučić has more initiative than the opposition.
At the moment when the institutions of the Republic are destroyed, when Vučić's octopus is still alive, when people are disgusted by the injustice and the stench left behind by the Essenes regime, we have, as Machiavelli said, only civic virtue as the fuel with which we can return to the beginning
The four independent members of REM are an example of perseverance and civic responsibility. Rodoljub Šabić even, upon leaving the premises of REM, after the sentencing of the Informer, experienced that the Essenes insulted him, hit him with their hands and feet. But that too will soon be over
Vučić pardoned the batterers and Dijana Hrkalović. The election winners should abolish the sultan's power that allows one man to run afoul of the entire judicial system
Davor Matura's ALTA empire is the transplanted heart of the corrupt regime of Aleksandar Vučić, who was defeated in the October 25 elections. From ALTA Bank, roads lead directly to the top of the progressive government.
Things are unfolding at an astonishing speed, as astonishing as the speed with which Vucic conceded a convincing defeat. Impatience is understandable, but misplaced
At the moment when the institutions of the Republic are destroyed, when Vučić's octopus is still alive, when people are disgusted by the injustice and the stench left behind by the Essenes regime, we have, as Machiavelli said, only civic virtue as the fuel with which we can return to the beginning
The four independent members of REM are an example of perseverance and civic responsibility. Rodoljub Šabić even, upon leaving the premises of REM, after the sentencing of the Informer, experienced that the Essenes insulted him, hit him with their hands and feet. But that too will soon be over
Vučić pardoned the batterers and Dijana Hrkalović. The election winners should abolish the sultan's power that allows one man to run afoul of the entire judicial system
Interview: Branko Stamenković, public prosecutor of the Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office
A black picture and the breakdown of the rule of law subscribeThe archive of the weekly Vreme includes all our digital editions, since the very beginning of our work. All issues can be downloaded in PDF format, by purchasing the digital edition, or you can read all available texts from the selected issue.
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