There are at least two elements that are necessary for anyone who, at this moment, opposes the dictatorship of Aleksandar Vučić: distance in relation to the everyday tactical struggle, and especially in relation to the wall of silence of the authorities, against which the demands of the opposition are rejected, and an articulated idea that goes beyond the demands of the day .
Stepping away from what we ourselves participate in allows us not only to see the bigger picture, but also shows the (painful) path of winning freedom. On the one hand, Vučić and his crew feign carelessness and pretend to be simpletons (the usual repertoire, then), on the other hand, some people, led by Marinika Tepić, risked their lives for freedom.
On the one hand, Vučić - that Vučić, let's remind you, who is not afraid of anyone or anything - gathers the police, sends plainclothes policemen and members of the party militia to provoke the gendarmerie, and then arrests some kids and accuses them of subverting the constitutional order (as if he has not already demolished), on the other hand, the number of citizens at the protests is falling.
On the one hand, 70 percent of Serbia has no idea what is happening in Serbia, on the other hand, the opposition is constantly attacking the harsh silence and inaction of the regime, which, on December 17, was caught with its pants down.
On the one hand, the regime is apparently armed with infinite patience and behaves as if nothing happened (as if they were not caught stealing) and as if nothing is happening (as if almost a million people in this country, on whose behalf the opposition speaks and it works, it doesn't exist), on the other hand, the opposition side, everything is bursting with impatience and disappointed hopes.
Impatience, however, and resignation are not allies of those who resist dictatorship. Populist-type dictatorships do not fall quickly or easily, and it seems to us that it is important to notice several motives that can be seen from a distance. The most important thing is that, until today, Vučić has not received any congratulations for his election victory from the relevant address. With Orbanova, it is. But in case anyone missed it, with relevant it is not. And those addresses are relevant thanks to which Vučić has been in power for 11 years: the European Union and America.
If the opponent of the regime, therefore, at this moment, the situation seems untenable, if it seems to him that Marinika Tepić is risking her health for nothing, if it seems to him that this country, which Vučić has destroyed from the inside like Gaza, cannot be removed from under the ruins , it is only because he has no patience and is unable to move away from what is in front of his eyes: from the grinning simpleton of the regime and the spectacular police cordons in the service of the dictator. Moved away from the vulgarity, however, the opponent of the regime will see small steps inside and outside the country, steps that have not been taken until now. And something else.
For example, in a democratic order, 900 thousand votes of one party are worth as much as 900 thousand votes of the other party. Those are the rules of the game. In authoritarian regimes, however, the proportions are different: those 900 votes that stand behind Serbia against violence are worth more than the 900 votes of people who voted for Vučić, but not because the former are more valuable, but because they are free people. . If they fall into resignation and stop resisting, only then will Vučić's grinning team be able to celebrate the victory. But if that doesn't happen, this dictatorship, in spite of everything, by the nature of things, cannot last much longer.
Money against the idea of a republic
Of course, the goal of the opposition is the overthrow of the monstrous system, but the overthrow is not a goal in itself, but a step towards the realization of a political idea that guides political action. That level of abstraction is very welcome in an atmosphere where the dictator, his entourage and his simple-minded propaganda not only do not articulate a single political idea, but actively work against killing any idea of an idea. The characteristic of populist dictatorship is speech that is "understandable" to less educated and uneducated people, that is, speech devoid of abstraction (idea).
And handing out "free" money is a speech that everyone understands. Hence the cheerful group of Roma brothers who were crammed into buses and dragged to imitate the group's admiration for the great leader in the Arena and who naively "revealed" directly to the camera of the Luxembourgish and American and traitorous N1 television that Vučić is a very good man who will give them two thousand (or however many) when they vote for him.
The idea, therefore, which is not drinkable like "free money" and which the democratic opposition should articulate is an old, never-worn idea of the republic. When we say that Vučić destroyed the constitutional order, it means that he destroyed, abused and usurped republican - not, simply, democratic - institutions. Serbia is formally a republic, that is, a political form based on the division of power and free public space. Essentially, Serbia is a monarchy - the rule of one - or a dictatorship (also the rule of one) in which the supreme working principle is the will of the beloved leader. In such and such a regime in which the legislative, executive and judicial powers are united in the hands of one person, there is no legal security for citizens, there is no free public space in which political ideas can be articulated, so there is no freedom. That is why, we believe, the strategic goal of resistance to the dictatorship must be emphasized again and again - the re-establishment of the republic. In this way, not only the idea is kept alive, but also the citizens are taught, as we have tried to show, the patience necessary to overthrow the dictatorship.
