Movement Go-Change he considers himself a kind of "vanguard" of political marches in Serbia, namely student marches, he says Savo Manojlović, the president of the movement, show to what extent that idea, that is, that practice, is effective. Deputies of the Move-Change Movement in the Belgrade Assembly continued - by walking to Batajnica - to move around Serbia.
With Savo Manojlović, we talk about marches as a political strategy (but also a necessity), the actions of the opposition, cooperation with students, political education of citizens, destroyed institutions, political ideas and political practice of the Move-Change Movement, about the upcoming elections and Serbia after Vučić.
"WEATHER" There aren't many of you in the media., but that's why the news is coming from the field that people are seeing you and your Movement in two different places at the same time. What kind of response do you encounter in Serbia??
SAVO MANOJLOVIĆ: The Move-Change principle is to speak more with actions than with words. One of our specialties is working in the field with people, because, as we like to say: "People are power!" Another feature of ours is solidarity and we try to support all protests and actions that defend the values of freedom and justice and be involved in them. People recognize that dedication and that's why we always have warm welcomes and a warm reception. There are plenty of anthology footage and pictures from various hikes and field trips. From elderly people waiting for you on the muddy road with homemade juice and brandy, bread and salt, to parents with children offering you cakes. One of my favorite is when we were assigned to sleep in a host's house in Indjija with the students. They couldn't send the child to sleep because he was waiting for students and said he would be a student when he grew up.
When the Movement Begins-Change your conversations with people., you don't insist that they vote for you, but only that they do not vote for Vučić? How would you describe your own political, therefore, not just an election strategy?
Although we won 18 percent in the Belgrade elections in 2024, the best single opposition result since 2008, we called on people to vote for the specific Move-Change program. So the fight against corruption and how to solve the polluted air in Belgrade, but we invited them first of all to come out and vote against this government. We care about ideas, not functions. I think concrete actions and results remain behind us. When our goal was to save Serbia ecologically from "Rio Tinto", we did it together with the citizens. If your goal is to defeat the regime, then it doesn't matter who scores the winning basket.
For which political, social, state and other ideas your Movement advocates?
In short: whoever respected the law has nothing to fear, whoever broke the law has nothing to hope for. Ecological Serbia, the rule of law and no corruption. We are currently in a pre-political society of hijacked and occupied institutions. The first prerequisite is a society of responsibility and justice. It implies criminal responsibility for all those who violated the law and confiscation of illegally acquired property. We called that program "Clean Hands" and so far, more than 80.000 citizens have signed it.
photo: marija janković...
We are here., however, we are facing a destructive regime that does not offer any ideas, nor does it respond to ideas. Is advocating for ideas effective enough in meeting a regime without ideas?
Serbia is in a pre-political state of society. We cannot talk about the differences between conservatism and liberalism if we have not ensured the basic political rights of the first generation (freedom of speech, freedom of choice, right to protest). It is not logical to look for some fine differences between pro-European politics, pro-national or socially sensitive, when this government has canceled both European and national and social values, which are founded as a constitutional consensus and about which there is no dispute. The principle of judicial independence and the right to a fair trial as a fundamental value of the European Convention on Human Rights are being destroyed by Mrdić's laws. This government deals with the issue of education of the Serbian community in Kosovo and Metohija, even though it is a matter of elementary national interest, guaranteed by the agreements signed by this same government. And finally, what kind of welfare state are we talking about when children of political opponents are denied the right to kindergarten, people are blackmailed with illegal contracts for a certain period of time in order to attend SNS rallies. When you have occupied institutions, the first step is to defeat the occupier, and then other political issues can be resolved. Or to quote Zoran Djindjic: "Let's first solve the problems we all agree on."
What is your relationship with other opposition parties??
It all comes down to people in the end. When you are on the field on election day as an observer, and in front of you are beaters with bars, you do not look at who is from which opposition party, movement, whether he is a student or an activist. It happened to me that activists from some older opposition parties approached me after those situations and said that they were sorry for leaving incorrect statements on Twitter. The terrain and common struggle bring people together, for me, anyone who is in the trenches with me against this government is a comrade.
Would you agree to stronger formal ties with other opposition parties of civic origin?
It seems to me that when we talk about formal relationships, we are talking about leaders' agreements, positioning in the public, discussion in the media. The essence of the change lies in the massive involvement of citizens. If that's the goal of the tie-up, then it's something that's essential in order to collectively cover 16.000 election monitors and run a successful field campaign. When you have a cartel party that has taken over the system and you are fighting, the only way to win is to create a mass front and movement. Mere media connection and positioning of leaders and public meetings are not the key to such a change. In a text with five proposals for the opposition's actions a year and a half ago, Kreni-Promeni pointed out: "It is less important whether the actions are unified; it is important that they are effective. There is no need for vain media meetings about false unity where the will is imposed on others, and after the meeting partnership bridges are destroyed. The principles must be abandoned Incline or more ('Bow or die'). Every potential opposition and voice against the regime must be functionally directed. The solution is in the closed meetings of the opposition, where the solutions will be agreed upon, without going to the media. The official position is that closed meetings are not commented on even if they leak." Operational meetings are needed that will bring results on the ground, and not for the sake of photographing the leaders.
Do you think that all anti-Vučić forces should somehow unite, that is, to stand behind one candidate and one list, as the Hungarian opposition behind Peter Magyar.
Move-Change determined and supported the student movement from the beginning. We gave support for value reasons. The basis of the student struggle is the fight against corruption and the rule of law. Also, they unanimously supported and stood in the front of the fight against "Rio Tinto". We support their fighting methods. We introduced blockades as an instrument of political struggle ourselves with the locals in 2021, exactly against "Rio Tinto". And we also practiced hiking in Serbia as early as 2024, when we walked from Belgrade to Nedeljica, covering 150 km.
As for the opposition, Kreni-Promeni's position is not to comment on relations within the opposition. It is the right of everyone to use the constitutional opportunity to run or not to run, and the right of every citizen to decide who to vote for.
I would like to be here., however, insisted: do you think the solution is for the students and the opposition to be on the same list (in one column), or you allow the possibility of multiple opposition lists?
Although we recorded the best individual opposition results in the last two decades in the last local elections in Belgrade and Novi Sad, by supporting the student movement as a single list, it is clear which strategy we consider better.
What about the opposition parties that are on the right side of the political spectrum? Could you find a minimum of common ground with, let's say, With the new DSS-om?
In order to change this government, it is necessary that all those who are against it, and have passed the census, have a majority in the number of mandates. The second condition is that after the election, they do not hide their personal ambitions behind alleged ideological differences, thus providing Vučić with a lifeline. Those are two basic criteria for me. I emphasize, however, that Kreni-Promeni gave himself to field work and spends all his energy on concrete solutions and on the fight against this regime, but since he is not a participant in the election process, it is irrelevant whether someone is acceptable to us or not, but whether he is acceptable to the students.
The student movement does not seem to be "squeamish" to right-wing discourse? Do you see it as a danger or do you think it is?, in the current constellation, even some kind of advantage?
New generations are overcoming old divisions. Students are respected for the "right-wing discourse" because they did not renounce the national interest. At the same time, no one has done more than the student movement to fundamentally reconcile and permeate diversity. You could see hijab and shaykacha hugging. Students from Novi Pazar were welcomed in Niš as the most native. In the Studenica monastery, food was prepared for them according to Muslim customs. At the same time, at the protest in Novi Pazar, Muslims welcomed the students with fasting food, I was moved by their attention. It is not the tolerance of differences but the permeation and unity of the community in differences.
It is certain that Vučić is hesitating to call an election because he is doing poorly in public opinion polls. Does the postponement of the election help or backfire??
The fact that he is not allowed to call elections for the first time since 2012 clearly shows that he does not have a majority. The fact is that over time his power declines, so by announcing it he would politically capitalize on support before a new meltdown. However, we are talking about someone who, through abuse, but also due to the poor organization of the opposition, held all municipalities and local communities under control, and such a type of person cannot allow the loss of his current position. Especially since for many the loss of power can mean the loss of wealth and the loss of freedom. That's why he trusts in the only chance, which is that, over time, he will succeed in instilling apathy among the citizens and creating divisions and disturbances with false lists that will insist on alleged ideological differences, to disunite the front against him.
There is a strong thesis that the referendum atmosphere would work in favor of opposition-minded citizens. Do you agree with such a view??
You now have places where the SNS does not have a larger number of mandates than the students, but will gain power with the help of other papers (Užica), the Hungarian minority (Kula) or other parties (SPS in Arandjelovac). Great results were recorded despite all the irregularities in Bor, Bajina Bašta, Mionica, Kosjerić... These are all places where the government has always dominated. Now add the big cities, and in some, like Niš, the government did not have a greater number of votes than the opposition in the last elections, but was saved through boycotts and the phantom Russian Party. In Belgrade, the opposition lists had a greater number of votes in 2022 and 2023, and in 2024 the downward trend of the SNS continued, but power was handed to them due to the split over the boycott in the capital.
Do you operate in cities and towns outside of Belgrade and in what way?? In the last local elections, you had the largest number of observers?
The field work gives results. People are power! And we try to involve as many people as possible in the changes in constant contact with the citizens. That is why we are growing as an organizational structure. We pay a lot of attention to people, through training and presence in the field. There is no magic organization or leader that will bring about change. As one revolutionary said: "I am not a liberator. There are no liberators. People liberate themselves." For change to happen, people have to get involved and take their share of responsibility.
The government is destroying the capital before our eyes, as well as the entire country, after all. Now the idea of selling city transport to a private person is heating up (close to the SNS-u, of course).
Robbery is already being carried out by favoring the private carrier, the SNS tycoon. Instead of the city buying new buses, a huge amount of money goes to a private person. At the same time, be careful, transportation is 100 percent subsidized, politicians like to say free. The money comes from the city budget, there is no problem with collection, and it is an ideal opportunity for you to raise the GSP with professional management and renew the fleet, instead of creating a new SNS tycoon to whom you pour 514 million euros. The solution is: instead of political and corrupt agreements, a clear professional strategy for the development of public transport and professional management.
photo: marija janković...
Movement Go-Change runs the long way.. Like students, after all. Does this mean that you do not consider the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections to be crucial, unlike some observers who see the next elections as the last chance for Serbia?
Repression has intensified. It is visible through the brutality of the police, the political work of the judiciary, changes to the judicial laws, media attacks, but also through the purge of the police and the appointment of loyalists Kričko, Repac, and Žmirić to leadership positions. In the fight against such a regime, every fight and every election is crucial. Long distance running for us is the steps after the regime change. The next government must clean the system of personnel compromised by corruption and violence against its own citizens. In Serbia, the scenario of October 5 must not be repeated, when, after the change of regime, corruption and crime change sides and continue to form the supporting pillars of the new regimes. The "Clean Hands" program involves cleaning the system from all those who have soiled their hands; that cleaning will be carried out according to a clear principle and precisely established criteria. It implies criminal liability and confiscation of illegally acquired property.
You left the session of the city assembly and walked to Batajnica. Do you think you can in such a way?, at least partially, to break the media blockade?
A few years ago, we walked 150 km to Jadro - Nikola Stanković, Nikola Adamović and I. But I would like to point out that the hike was organized by Ivan Bijelić and student Lazar Dinić. Even then, I saw the effects of direct meetings with people, and the thought came to my mind: "Serbia will be changed by people who are ready to cross it." Students are exactly the confirmation of that. The concept of hiking all over Serbia, which we now started with the departure and forum in Batajnica, is a reminder that there are no shortcuts to justice. Yesterday we walked 20 kilometers. We will walk even more in the coming weeks and months. Day by day, step by step. Every step is a message. Every kilometer is resistance. We will walk through Belgrade. We will cross Serbia on foot. And we will not stop until the voice of the citizens is heard.
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