For a month, the opposition and the civil sector have been trying to "tell the truth to the world" about what happened in Serbia before and on the day of the elections on December 17, 2023. Like never before, they raised the tension - not only in European press offices and some institutions, but also in the part of the "western public" sensitive to irregular election processes, but aware that they cannot expect high standards from "half-hearted states", such as Serbia. democratic standards.
The electoral engineering of the ruling party in Serbia was discussed in the European Parliament and in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. It could be read in major international newspapers, there was discussion almost everywhere - except on major Serbian TV stations and especially on RTS.
As for the government in Serbia, the elections have "never been cleaner", this was also adopted by the "editorial boards" of the media that consume public frequencies, so the only thing that could be heard was the government's position and whining about how the opposition is preparing a "new Maidan" and how they want to liquidate Vučić when he cannot defeat him in the elections.
That is why the debate was conducted in European institutions and the opposition and part of the public still believe that there could be such pressure from that side that would lead to the annulment of these and the organization of new elections with a regulated environment.
However, nothing that comes "from the west", nothing that comes "from the side" guarantees such an outcome, so it is realistic to believe that no one really expects THAT. It goes without saying that the opposition's tactic is to insist on such an outcome and to prepare for a slightly different sequence of events in the coming months. The government is in a hurry to "form a parliament" and to provoke the opposition's decision "on mandates" before the announced resolution of the European Parliament and, more importantly, before the final report of the OSCE monitoring mission, over which a great battle is being fought behind closed doors these weeks, in which the Serbian government ways, and especially through the OSCE office in Belgrade, is trying to get a report that would not be very disastrous for it, while the opposition is trying in its own way to have all the irregularities that have been documented and that show that the whole process was so contaminated that it was actually unsustainable.
What can we expect?
Nothing will come of the arrival of "international investigators" because they cannot come without an invitation from the Government of Serbia. And this regime will not do that, not even at the level of "here, we are calling and you will see how stupid and corrupt you are when the whole world sees that the elections are clean as a tear", because it knows very well what it did to get these results in the elections .
Thus, the opposition has nothing left but to prepare for new elections, to start a campaign, and to animate a large number of people who will work on fixing the voter's list because that will certainly be one of the most important recommendations of the observation mission. That list should be "opened", cleaned as much as possible and prevented from repeating the kind of manipulation that is now documented.
In addition, in order to get real support from the outside, talking about values and ideals is not enough: it is necessary to define clear policies for the future of Serbia and discuss them with partners to see if these policies coincide with the interests of those from whom we ask for help and support.
And all this should be presented to the citizens in a direct conversation, either live or in any other way. Without a change of government, or without the formation of a transitional/technical government, it will not be possible to expect the media environment to change so much that the voice of the opposition reaches every voter in Serbia. Voters who should believe in a different vision of Serbia and partners who should recognize common interests are key to the outcome of the next election process. Which has already started.
