Photo: Marija JankovićThe game of nerves, endurance, persistence and patience that the president of Serbia has always won since he was in power began. Despite the aggravating circumstances, enough people took to the streets to block roads and deter the police from intervening. The President of Serbia cannot allow himself to be defeated by "the street" once again. There are less than four months left until the elections
Will it succeed or not?
This question was in the air for the third Saturday in a row, when citizens, at the invitation of environmental organizations, blocked roads throughout Serbia. The reason for doubt was the disagreement of the original organizers of the protest on whether they should be continued after the first time that the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, backed down "in front of the street" - all the demands of the demonstrators regarding the Law on Expropriation and the Law on Referendum have been met.
Another part of the environmental organizations, led by the Ecological Uprising led by Aleksandar Jovanovića Ćuta, added a new ultimatum and called for blockades until it is fulfilled: to expel Rio Tinto from Serbia once and for all and pass a law that would ban lithium mining in the Serbian country.
In addition to these disputes, it was cold and raining all over Serbia on Saturday.
The first assessment is that the protest succeeded this Saturday despite the aggravating circumstances, although there were much fewer people than last Saturday. Roads were again blocked in dozens of cities and smaller towns, the international highway near the Sava Center in Belgrade was also blocked, the police were nowhere to be found, but there were no incidents.
This time, walks were organized in places according to the old recipe, perhaps because of the cold, and fiery speeches were held.
Director and ecological protester Goran Marković described the atmosphere in Belgrade as "cheerful", noting that people seem "liberated".
It was similar throughout Serbia.
The party lasted from 14:15 to XNUMX:XNUMX.
The question for the organizers of these protests, but also for the opposition political parties, the so-called November coalitions whose leaders strictly took care not to come to the fore, is - what next? Is it possible for these blockades to last until the elections in early April? Will the protests die down, or grow?
Any roadblocks every next Saturday will be a safety risk. The fewer people there are, the greater will be the temptation for Vučić and his strategists to order the police or "activists" of the Serbian Progressive Party ready to fight to intervene.
If the police, even with adequate use of force, wanted to disperse the blockaders, everything would be according to the law and expected. An indicator of the abnormal situation in Serbia is precisely that the police do not disperse people who block roads, even when there are not many of them.
It does not do that, because it is obvious that the authorities' assessment is that the anger has accumulated to such an extent and among so many people, that the intervention of the police would have an uncertain outcome. It could backfire and bring to the streets a far greater number of people determined not to back down.
On the other hand, which government can allow itself to have its international roads blocked in the long run. What will "friends" in the white world think of Vučić, if he has lost control?
It is in the hands of the progressive commanders that, if they so judge, they can provoke a conflict whenever they want.
The game of endurance, persistence and patience has begun, which the president of Serbia has always won until now. It will be based on the fact that these, like all protests up to now, will backfire over time.
Only now time is working against Vučić. There are three and a half months left until the election. SNS cannot allow itself to officially start the election campaign with roadblocks.
AI
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