The opposition parties are facing a difficult decision – to take part in the elections and risk yet another defeat, or to support the students in creating a referendum-like atmosphere. What do the results of the recent vote in Hungary tell us?
Birds migrate south in autumn. The opposition in Serbia gathers ahead of every more serious announcement of elections. Whichever way you look at it, both are seasonal phenomena.
At a meeting on 23 April, opposition leaders delivered a firm “perhaps”. The issue is uniting and contesting the elections. The Democratic Party and the Kreni–Promeni Movement did not attend the gathering. They had already decided to support the students. Novi DSS also did not respond to the invitation.
The most concrete among those who took part in the talks was Pavle Grbović.
“If the opposition wants to participate in the elections, that participation must have meaning – not just to be on the ballot and survive, but to offer a certain policy and seek legitimacy for it,” the president of the Movement of Free Citizens (PSG) told Vreme weekly.
That “meaning” is hinted at in the idea of running in two blocs – a European one and another. Will this be enough to cross the electoral threshold, and perhaps gain something more? Predictions vary.
Life on a ventilator
By spending almost a year and a half in the field, the student movement has taken over a vast portion of the political space that once belonged to the opposition and, more importantly, has courageously expanded it. Nothing comparable has been achieved by the anti-government parties – even collectively – over the past fourteen years. On the contrary, it has always been a struggle to redistribute the same opposition electorate, sometimes larger, sometimes smaller.
After the split in 2024 caused by the bizarre boycott of local elections, almost the entire opposition ended up on life support. Thus, during the deepest political crisis in Serbia’s recent history, most of these parties have been acting more or less passively and quarrelling among themselves. There is no answer to the question of how they can move forward together in a way that inspires public trust.
The Hungarian case
Although they share many values with the democratic opposition, the students have refused cooperation, believing they would lose more than they would gain. A significant portion of citizens supported them – some disillusioned by the past performance of anti-government parties, others due to their systematic exposure to regime-led demonisation.
The aggressive–passive reactions of much of the opposition to the students’ “veto” have not improved its overall position. Instead of adapting to reality, most have tried to bend reality to suit themselves.
It is therefore no surprise that many believe most opposition parties will not survive the elections, as in reality only two lists will face each other at the ballot box – the student list and the regime’s. In other words, something resembling the recent case in Hungary.
Is it worth the risk?
Although not all parties are the same, the public no longer sees differences between them, nor is it interested in their often sterile activities, one-upmanship, egos, intrigues, and mutual sabotage.
There is nothing new about this in political life, but citizens have grown tired of it. It is always the same leaders with the same narratives, a lack of accountability after election cycles, an absence of willingness to reform ineffective party work, petty squabbles on social media… This genuinely interests no one.
So, the opposition faces a difficult choice. To take part in the elections and perhaps somehow cross the threshold, or to support the students in creating a referendum-like atmosphere?
The risk is enormous. If there is no change of government, it will ultimately make no difference who is in parliament and who is not. Abnormal levels of violence, lawlessness, corruption, and repression would then become entirely normal.
(Vreme, 24.04.2026)
https://vreme.com/komentar/sta-ce-biti-sa-opozicijom-mozda-se-ujedini/