Actress, producer and professor Bojana Maljevic withdrew from the student list, with an internal letter in which she criticized the vetting procedures as well as the statements made by the candidates student list, that is to future candidates for deputies, send for signature.
The letter was first published by the media close to the authorities, and "Vremen" confirmed its authenticity.
Maljević, who was proposed as a candidate by the Faculty of Arts in Niš, writes that she was honored and felt a great responsibility when she accepted the invitation.
"You have shown that trust is built with solidarity, openness and consistency; that you want to return politics to rules and responsible people. We gathered around a simple idea: that institutions must do their job; that those who are not competent should not be questioned; that responsibility must exist and that no one is above the law. Especially not those whose hands are bloody," she states.
"But there is a moment in every revolution when it stops fighting against the old world and starts organizing its own. That moment is much more important than the revolution itself," Maljević begins his criticism.
Objection to permanent veto
According to her letter, to students complains the relatively new institute of "permanent veto". It would mean that all plenums have a constant opportunity to "vet" candidates.
"I have no qualms that the joint list of several universities should go through a one-time check of the candidate's integrity. I consider such a veto a legitimate and responsible mechanism for protecting the list. When suddenly (as of the other day) it becomes permanent veto, it stops checking integrity. It becomes a mechanism of political control," writes Maljević.
The complaint and statement given to the candidates to sign, which he says resemble "virtually imperative mandates reminiscent of the party centralism we are fighting against."
"Democracy cannot be defended with mechanisms that limit the freedom of mandate and introduce political discipline. That would be a blow to the student movement - and not to the signatory of the Declaration, which is not legally binding, nor morally, to be honest," adds Maljević.
For the students to preserve what made Serbia believe in them
She writes in the letter that the students she is in contact with have told her that many recognize the weakness of the "candidate's statement" formulated in such a way and that it may be amended.
But for Bojana Maljević, the overall logic has been missed: "The paradox is almost perfect. The movement that taught citizens to trust each other is now trying to protect itself from its elected representatives. The movement that sought free institutions is starting to write the rules for free people, and will even allow the regime we are fighting against to harass these people even more for an indefinite period of time."
She adds that she has not lost faith in the goals that led to the creation of the student movement and tells the students: "Don't replace healthy courage with political fear. I sincerely wish you success. And even more than that, I want you to somehow preserve what Serbia believed in you for."
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