President of the National Assembly and Vice President of the Main Board of the Serbian Progressive Party Ana Brnabic she assessed that the video published by the students in the blockade of the Faculty of Dramatic Arts, in which the central figure is the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić, "the most monstrous message" Student lists so far and as a turning point in the election campaign.
She said this at a press conference attended by several members of that party.
Brnabić believes that the kind of campaign led by the Student List "has never been seen before, either in Serbia or in the world." She singled out the fact that "threats to arrest Vučić and allusions to sexual violence" appear in the video.
Therefore, she concluded that the video is not only an attack on Vučić, but that it allegedly shows what Serbia would be like if the Student List came to power after the elections on October 25.
According to her interpretation, the video should therefore be viewed as a political message, i.e. as a presentation of the values, politics and way of acting of those behind the Student List.
Brnabić said that this is precisely why the press conference is being held in the presence of a large number of women from SNS, in order to point out to the public what she called the danger that threatens women and families if such a policy becomes state policy.
She specifically spoke about the family of the President of Serbia. She reminded that Vučić is someone's son, brother and father and asked how his mother and daughter feel when they watch such content.
Brnabić assessed that not only one politician is being attacked, but also his family, as well as all the people who identify with him politically or support him.
What does the video show, and what does Brnabić conclude
In that part of her presentation, there is an important difference between what the video directly shows and the conclusion that can be drawn from it. The video was made to be provocative and contains motives that can be connected with punishing and humiliating Vučić, but the claim that it therefore represents the program of the future government of the Student List is an unarguable political interpretation. Such a conclusion would require other evidence, such as the official program, candidate statements or specific political announcements.
Brnabić then moved on to the issue of revenge. She said that, according to her interpretation, the Student List is not seeking justice but revenge.
As proof of that, she cited the content of the video and earlier messages that she linked to political opponents of the government. She especially emphasized that in the new video, as she understands it, it is announced that people who do not share certain political views could be exposed to violence after a possible change of government.
For Brnabić, therefore, September 20, i.e. the day of the release of the video, represented a turning point in the campaign.
She asked what kind of political group is it that uses threats and scenes of violence as part of political communication and what kind of attitude those who look forward to such content have. She interpreted the end of the video, in which soap appears and scenes of cleaning tiles, in exactly that key, as an allusion to the violence against Vučić.
The video, by the way, consists of a montage of earlier recordings of Vučić, messages from citizens from protests and other materials. In one part, there is a video of Vučić with flowers on the occasion of March 8, which is contrasted with messages from female citizens that he is not welcome and that the people do not want him. In the second part, his appearance is followed by a video of robots playing rounds and an earlier message from a female student that she will play rounds when the arrests are broadcast.
Vučić's announcement that he will start the campaign with "one truck" was followed by messages that he is unwanted and that no one will want him. The video ends with scenes of cleaning and soap on the floor.
How Brnabić came to threaten women
It is the finale that Brnabić considers particularly problematic. She asked what kind of people are there who look forward to such scenes and what Vučić, that is, his family, has ever done to those who portray him in such a way. At the same time, she said that Vučić is her friend, comrade and that she sees his family as her own.
Brnabić went on to claim that this was not an isolated case, but the continuation of a broader campaign against women. She recalled earlier messages about "haircuts" and other messages that she presented as threats to women. According to her, the campaign of the Student List is now focused on the intimidation of women and is a continuation of what she described as years of insults and attacks on women connected to the authorities.
Therefore, at the conference, as a special topic, she raised the question of what would happen to women, but also to other citizens, on October 26 if the Student List wins the elections. Brnabić said that, in her opinion, such a scenario would mean that justice would be taken into one's own hands, that people would be arrested and imprisoned, and that the way they were treated would be more like a camp than a prison.
Here too, Brnabić resorted to a political conclusion for which she has no argument, because her claims cannot be justified by anything seen in the video.
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