The presentation of some of the candidates and campaigners was announced at the meeting.
Citizens' group "Student list - Students are winning" was founded yesterday to participate in the upcoming elections, announced the students in the blockade. Among the signatories are Marija Maruna, Katarina Šćepanović, Goran Perišić, Stanislav Milošević, Aleksandar Čupić, Miljan Salata, Milica Jovanović, Sanja Fritz, Mirjana Nikolić, Radomir Saičić, Dušan Đurđević, Željko Hubač, Maja Crnogorac Đurić and Miroslav Andrić.
Several candidates for the student list for the extraordinary parliamentary elections, scheduled for October 25, addressed the gathering.
The candidates presented are the president of the Union of Judicial Authorities Nemanja Đurić, cardiologist and professor of the Faculty of Medicine in Novi Sad Ilija Srdanović, professor of the Faculty of Education in Sombor Ljubica Oparnica, professor of the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade Jovo Bakić, academician and professor of the Faculty of Chemistry Radomir Saičić, political scientist from Novi Pazar Adem Mavrić and actor Tihomir Stanić.
At the beginning of the meeting, student Vukašin Đinović addressed the citizens, who spoke about the reasons why students and part of society started protests after the fall of the canopy of the Railway Station in Novi Sad on November 1, 2024.
Đinović reminded that 16 people died in the fall of the canopy, assessing that the tragedy was caused by crime and corruption. According to him, the students have been demanding justice for almost two years, and now they believe that they can get it through the electoral struggle.
Speaking about the period since the beginning of the protest, he recalled the thousands of kilometers traveled and the numerous gatherings attended by students and citizens, as well as the hope that, as he said, they gave back to each other.
Djinovic stated that the government tried various ways to discourage the participants of the protest, including intimidation, monitoring, spying, arrests and physical attacks, but that the students did not give up.
He assessed that a victory in the elections on October 25 would be a victory for Serbia and said that the students and their supporters are facing a demanding but important campaign. As its final goal, he stated joint victory, with the message that "Serbia wins, because the students win."
Before the speech began, photographs were shown representing student protests and activities during the previous two years.
Photo: N1The beginning of the student pre-election campaign at a rally in Novi Sad
Professor Srdanović: Were the culprits punished and did the institutions react?
One of the candidates on the Student List, professor of cardiology and professor of the Faculty of Medicine in Novi Sad, Ilija Srdanović, addressed the citizens at a meeting in Novi Sad.
He welcomed those gathered to what he said was a free Novi Sad, and then asked whether those responsible for the tragedy had been punished and whether the institutions had responded to the students' demands.
Srdanović assessed that the state's response was that there are no culprits, claiming that the institutions will not find those responsible because, as he said, the government representatives are among the most responsible. He also said that "corruption kills".
Speaking about the student movement, Srdanović said that society is now looking for a way out in young people who want to change the country and make it better. He assessed that the students have already started to achieve this.
Professor Oparnica: Imagine Serbia where the law applies equally to everyone
Ljubica Oparnica, a professor at the Faculty of Education in Sombor, said that she advocates for the fulfillment of student demands and talked about what kind of Serbia, according to her, should be built.
Oparnica cited as an example a society in which the law applies equally to everyone and in which the institutions perform their work. She also pointed to the need for corruption to be punished with prison, citing as an example cases in which people died at pedestrian crossings and toll plazas.
Photo: N1The beginning of the student pre-election campaign at a rally in Novi Sad
Bakić: They are white.
Jovo Bakić, professor of the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Belgrade, said at the meeting in Novi Sad, where the Student List officially started the pre-election campaign, that one man was not welcome in that city.
Addressing the men and women of Novi Sad, Bakić said that they represent "Serbian Athens" and that a person who, as he stated, is proud of being a Serbian should not come to Novi Sad, especially not in front of the Serbian National Theater. He compared his presence in the theater to the devil's reaction to garlic, with the assessment that such people are not "on their own turf".
Bakić pointed out that the Serbianness of Novi Sad, as he sees it, is understood together with humanity. He assessed that a bad man cannot be a good Serb and that for that one must first be a good man. In this context, he said that Novi Sad is extending a hand to Novi Pazar, that is, that Serbs and Bosniaks, as well as Orthodox and Muslims, should be together around Serbia as a common good.
Photo: Printskrin/N1Jovo Bakić
Speaking about the future moves of the government after the victory of the students, Bakić singled out the fight against organized crime as the first task. He accused the government of, as he said, "hijacking" the country and the stadiums and building the National Stadium while sports in the country have collapsed.
Bakić assessed that society cannot be healthy and normal if criminals rule the country. That is why he said that, after the student victory, those responsible for what happened in Novi Sad and Serbia should be held accountable in court and, if convicted, end up in Zabela.
He added that after the change of government, the various diplomas and accreditations awarded during the previous 15 years would have to be checked. He emphasized that responsibility must apply to everyone, because, as he assessed, the absence of legal responsibility can lead to tragedies.
Referring to the tragedy in Novi Sad, Bakić said that the city was not wounded only because of the fall of the canopy, but also because of events like those in Jova's high school. He assessed that one cannot remain indifferent to the destruction of the country's cultural heritage.
He called on citizens to support the students and recalled their activities during the previous period, including walking, running and cycling to Strasbourg. He pointed to the time gap between the fall of the canopy on November 1, 2024 and the elections scheduled for October 25, 2026.
Bakić criticized the government because, as he said, instead of calling elections immediately and allowing the citizens to decide on the future of the country, it calls young and educated people Ustashas. In the end, he called on the crowd to continue until victory and said that "students are winning", with a message to Novi Sad that they will work for that city, Vojvodina and Serbia.
students_win_new_sad-021-rsThe beginning of the student pre-election campaign at a rally in Novi Sad
Politician Mavrić: The walk of the people of Novopazar to Novi Sad broke divisions and hatred
Adem Mavrić, a political scientist from Novi Pazar and one of the candidates on the Student List, said that in previous years, Novi Pazar and Novi Sad were additionally connected by a common feat - the walking of the citizens of Novi Pazar to Novi Sad.
Mavrić assessed that the walk represented an expression of solidarity and the fight for freedom, and according to him, the participants were greeted with great support in every city they passed through.
Speaking emotionally, Mavrić pointed out that every kilometer traveled on the road to Novi Sad, in his opinion, represented a blow to prejudices, divisions and hatred that, as he said, had been encouraged by people from the Serbian Progressive Party for years.
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