By Filip Švarm
“As we all know, the opposition parties, the organizers of Serbia against Violence protests, have signed the “Agreement for Victory”. We also know what is written in that document. What we don’t know is how much of what was signed will be realized.
Why we don’t know that? Let’s get specific.
First – how organizationally strong is the opposition on the ground and what is it doing about it? The findings are not encouraging. Will this weakness become the reason why, like so many times before, the election boxes will be guarded by people who are only interested in getting paid for that day? Whatever they say and whatever they justify, it is clear that the opposition is playing in stoppage time.
Second, the body of opposition supporters has been approximately the same in size for years. How do these parties intend to reach disillusioned or wavering supporters of SNS and SPS? If they don’t find a way to get closer to them and if they run their campaign in the same way they did in the previous elections, they are setting themselves up for failure.
Third – can opposition leaders really curb personal vanities? Will those with worse ratings withdraw in favour of others who are more popular among the electorate? And will the candidacy of councillors, MPs, mayors and – of course – the prime minister be based on meritocratic criteria? These candidates should be revealed as soon as possible. Exposure to the demonization of regime propaganda is not a good counterargument.
Fourth – is there any possibility of curing opposition champions’ addiction to social media and likes? It’s time to finally leave Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to people who really understand them. Otherwise, they will never get out of the barren simulation of political life. And until that happens, their goals such as requests to call elections instead of holding them until the end of the year, will continue to be the rule of opposition activity, by no means the exception.
Fifth and last – the people are sick and tired of them whining about Vučić, the regime’s inaction and the like. Can the opposition finally stop succumbing to every provocation of the authorities and shed light on the real problems and offer concrete solutions?
We have to believe that they have answers to at least some questions. Hope dies last. And while the opposition is just warming up for the election campaign, Vučić is killing it even when on the speaking podium of the United Nations while shamelessly praising himself and criticizing the collective West. He is free do to so as Serbia will probably not join the EU, nor does the world see anyone else as a suitable candidate that could replace the president of Serbia. And the people like to hear how strong and tenacious he is.
What is the goal of this column? There isn’t one. This is a reminder that – matches – as Svetislav Pešić (the Serbian basketball team coach) would say – are won with dedication, commitment, team play, intelligence and courage. If this existed, Serbian opposition would stand a chance regardless of the fact that the Serbian President is shamelessly promoting himself and his election campaign even in New York.”
(Vreme, 22.09.2023)
https://www.vreme.com/kolumna/srbija-u-izbornom-ogledalu-na-koja-pitanja-opozicija-mora-da-odgovori/
Caricature by Tošo Borković