It started as expected, so with petty mischief.
First, the progressives "scheduled" notaries and municipal notaries, and then through Republican Election Commission gave the starting shot for collecting citizens' signatures. It is understood that they collected the signatures first, which is unusually important for them.
Otherwise, that first place on the ballot should give a certain advantage. Number 1 is convenient for political marketing, and it is the first to be seen. Whoever is first is said to have the easiest to collect signatures, which signals power and great support.
But in Serbia, where everyone knows what's going on, that thing is not so important. Even the "capillary votes" of the progressives know that they are invited in advance here and there, to sign with the notary uncle and the notifying aunt, at a precisely specified time. And until they don't show up!
Unsteady A
Someone must have earned a scrubbing the first among us because they arranged the boxes with the signatures in a hurry. Instead of "E" they printed Cyrillic "Ш" and rotated it. One "A" they completely forgot. Behind such boxes, Vučević, Mali, Brnabić and the others took pictures with the box.
"Alšksndar Vučić" got what he wanted, as many as 220.000 signatures of support, of which RIK found a few thousand invalid in the sweat of its face, but it doesn't matter.
Inviting the capillaries to sign has one flaw though. While the progressives were rushing like ants to be on top, the Student List (and others) had to beg for notaries and notaries, and some of them refused them outright.
However, it turned out to be the best possible start to the campaign. Queues with thousands of people, citizens waiting for six hours to sign. Pre-election party, optimism. Impressive shots. Marketing wizards would say – native advertising.
There is every chance that they will not swallow a single letter when they hand over the list - and it will turn out to be a party.
Bigger mischief follows.
Vučić also runs in this race as only he knows how, whipping his men with a whip, and they then whip those below them, and so on until the last porter in Majdanpek or Petrovac na Mlava. He can't get out of his skin, and in that skin he acts - scared.
If there was a democracy in Serbia and a free media, it would have been registered as a serious offense to him that he is running for prime minister from the position of president, thus making one of the two highest positions a mere reserve. It is against the spirit of the Constitution.
On the other hand, the Student List went through the critical phase of "weathering" without major turbulence, when many well-known and recognized people dropped out of it. Mutual quarrels and discussions remained in some Viber groups whose excerpts Informer publishes in vain - no one is particularly interested in that.
Admittedly, after small mischiefs, bigger ones will come, there's no doubt about that. To begin with, the Student List barely exists in the mainstream media. RTS had announced that it would report in a "balanced" manner, but there is no news about the Student List on their portal. Not to mention the regime tabloids.
There will be vote-buying, voter importation, Bulgarian trains, thwarting on all sides.
Only one thing matters.
For opponents of the government, it is equally wrong to despair because the government may not admit defeat, and to fall into euphoria because of the feeling that this is the moment. You just need to work and spread the story of the victory, barely forty days left.
A student campaign, guerilla, with less money and probably without television ads, could awaken optimism even among those who are still counted in the "undecided", which is an almost mythical category.
If in the end enough votes are found in the boxes in excess of the regime, the perpetrators of small and big mischief will be amused by fleeing across the border or into mouse holes. And everything they do now won't matter anymore.
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