Birds migrate south in autumn. The opposition in Serbia gathers before every serious election announcement. Turn-turn, both come as seasonal phenomena.
The leaders of the opposition said at the meeting on April 23 that they might. It is about coming together and going to the polls. The Democratic Party and the Start-Change Movement did not attend the meeting. They decided to support the students even earlier.
The most specific of those who participated in the talks was Pavle Grbović.
"If the opposition wants to participate in the elections, that participation must have a meaning - not only to be on the ballot and survive, but to offer a certain policy and seek legitimacy for it," the PSG president told "Vreme".
This sense is hinted at in the turnout for the elections in two columns - European and the other. Will this be enough to pass the census and maybe something will come? Forecasts fluctuate.
Life on a respirator
Having spent almost a year and a half on the ground, the student movement occupied a huge part of the political space that belonged to the opposition and, most importantly, heroically expanded it. The anti-regime parties - all together - have not come close to anything similar in the past fourteen years. On the contrary, it was always a struggle for a new division of the same opposition electorate, sometimes larger, sometimes smaller.
After the split in 2024 due to the bizarre boycott of local elections, almost the entire opposition ended up on the ventilator. The most profound political crisis in Serbia in recent history is therefore being spent by most of these parties more or less passively and at odds with each other. There is no answer to the question of how they can move forward together, and that this instills confidence in the majority of citizens.
The Hungarian case
Although they share many values with the democratic opposition, the students refused to cooperate, believing that they would lose more than they could gain. A good number of citizens supported them - some disappointed because of the past work of anti-government parties, others because of their systematic exposure to the regime's demonization.
Aggressive-passive reactions of a good part of the opposition to the student "veting" did not improve its overall position. Instead of adapting to reality, the majority tried to adapt reality to themselves.
It is not surprising that many believe that the majority of opposition parties will not survive the elections, since only two lists will actually face each other at the ballot boxes - the student and the regime. So, something similar to the recent case in Hungary.
Is it worth the risk?
Although not all parties are the same, the people have not seen the differences between them for a long time, nor are they interested in the often sterile oppositional activities, exaggeration, vanity, scheming, mutual undermining...
This is nothing new in political life, but citizens are fed up with it. It's about the same leaders with the same stories forever, their lack of responsibility after election cycles, lack of desire to change ineffective party work, petty calculations on social networks... Nobody really cares about this.
Therefore, the opposition faces a difficult decision. Go to the polls and, perhaps, somehow pass the census or support students in creating a referendum atmosphere?
The risk is huge. If there is no change of government, it will be perfectly indifferent who is in parliament and who is not. Abnormal violence, lawlessness, corruption and repression will then become something completely normal.
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