Photo: FoNetThis text was written at the moment when Marinika Tepić announced her hunger strike. The word fell, and the word binds. There is no turning back for her
The decision to go on a hunger strike is, in Vučić's Serbia, extremely dangerous: Vučić and his regime, we realized a long time ago, do not care about anyone. If these two politicians seriously damaged their health, that shameless man would be very happy.
Back then, during the time of the First Serbian Republic, Tomislav Nikolić went on a senseless hunger strike and not taking water, it was a farce, but, let's remember, while he was lying in the assembly, he was visited by the President of the Republic, Boris Tadić, as an opposition champion. It was an act of establishing the Republic. In contrast to him, Vučić dedicated his life to the overthrow of the Republic and the obliteration of better political customs, and we should not expect any kind of human gesture from him. (He didn't even bow down to the shadows of dead children. He didn't have enough education and courage to keep quiet in front of the devastated father of the worker who flew into the air in the weapons factory in Lucani, but he taught him lessons. Why should he now care about two people who, no matter how futile it may seem, they threaten the government?) Because of this, the opposition leaders are forced to take a drastic political act. In the fight for freedom, they invest their own lives. Not figuratively. Literally.
The word fell, and the word binds. There is no turning back for Tepić. Now it is no longer important to what extent such a decision was impulsive (probably it was, it is a cry against injustice, crime and senselessness), and to what extent it was considered (Gandhi deliberately went on hunger strikes, but the leaders of the opposition Serbian scene did not have time to prepare, and the decision to stop taking food is all the more dangerous for their health). The regime will pretend to be dead, with tasteless jokes and the eavesdropping of the tabloids, at least initially, but if these two people persist in this decision, at least until the moment their health is threatened, and if the word about the strike reaches deep Serbia , and especially if the media of powerful countries take an interest in the case - the regime will be forced to react.
Possible outcomes
One of the possible outcomes, in that case, an outcome that would not cost the regime too much, is an agreement with Nestorović not to agree on the formation of the government in Belgrade, and for such a development to serve as an excuse for new elections. It is clear, namely, that Nestorović is Vučić's project, that the smiling doctor is under Vučić's complete control.
But the matter is not so simple. It is clear to everyone that one concession by the regime would immediately lead to another: the normalization of election conditions, which Vučić, due to the thuggish nature of his rule, is protecting himself from. To that extent, a concession, without serious external pressure, should not be expected.
The opposition champion's hunger strike may produce some more political consequences. Let's say the homogenization of Serbia against violence (we saw to what extent, literally, all the opposition leaders were engaged) at a moment when it would be expected that there would be another split in the opposition scene (It was necessary, in that context, to hear Ponoš's quite sensible speech in "Impression of the Week".)
Likewise, the not-so-small resignation of the opposition electorate—a resignation that stems from not-so-warranted pre-election optimism—could turn into a determination to persevere, because, after all, if one is willing to risk one's health and one's life for an idea, that, after all, says something about the person who represents us.
Finally, the advice to Marinika Tepić, which the signatory of this text heard from the convicted war criminal (before he became a war criminal) and experienced prisoner Vojislav Šešelj, who tried his hand at a hunger strike: "Drink a lot of water, people, so that your kidneys don't get damaged."
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