Difficult times for the opposition in Serbia: Vučić without fear for his position

By Haris Ljevo

The Alliance for Serbia, a political bloc composed of ten opposition parties and movements, was formally established in Belgrade on Sunday after lengthy announcements.

Among the main points of the Alliance's program are creating conditions for fair elections, fighting crime, opposing Kosovo's membership in the UN, a new economic policy, youth employment, and fighting poverty, the Insajder portal reported.

The Alliance for Serbia was founded by the People's Party, the Democratic Party, the Dveri movement, Left Serbia, Healthy Serbia, the Movement for Change, the "Homeland" movement, the "Sloga" United Trade Unions, Together for Serbia, and the former president of the DS and mayor of Belgrade, Dragan Đilas.

The Alliance consists of various parties and movements, from the far left to radical right-wing parties that have openly promoted nationalism, and even fascism, in the past period. Such an Alliance has caused divided opinions in Serbia; some believe it is good, while others think Serbia has gained nothing from the establishment of a new Alliance.

Former Belgrade Mayor Dragan Đilas called on all individuals, parties, and organizations to join the alliance and together build the country they desire.

- We have started building a prosperous house. The 10 of us are not enough; all individuals need to gather. People, join us, let's work together, leave aside talk about mandates, about positions, come and let's build the country we want - Đilas said at the founding assembly.

DS President Zoran Lutovac said that differences and specificities among the Alliance members are not important now, but it is important that they all listen to the citizens of Serbia and normalize daily and political life.

- Now we need a broad alliance, and everything else are ideological or programmatic coalitions. Differences are not important; what is important now is what unites us, and what unites us is the desire to create a state where we can show our specificities and differences - Lutovac said, adding that specificities will come to the agenda when they create a democratic state.

President of Left Serbia, Borko Stefanović, reminded that this alliance is being founded on the same day – September 2nd – as the For Serbia coalition in 1996, and that there could be symbolism in this and that something could be learned from past experiences. 

- Whatever one thinks of that coalition, it proved electoral theft at a very important moment and is an example that victory is possible even in an unequal fight when honest people with different beliefs gather. From today, victory, justice, and freedom will march through Serbia! - emphasized Stefanović.

President of the right-wing Dveri movement, Boško Obradović, said that the citizens of Serbia now have the opportunity to choose between a united government and a united opposition, while the president of the People's Party, Vuk Jeremić, stated that the Alliance members must be solidary, and with faith in a dignified state and a "world Serbia," achieve something they will not be ashamed of tomorrow when looking their children in the eyes.

The leaders of Healthy Serbia and the Movement for Change, Milan Stamatović and Janko Veselinović, emphasized that the first task they must fight for is the creation of conditions for fair and democratic elections.

The appearance of Milan Stamatović as a member of the Alliance has provoked reactions from numerous civic activists who, through social networks, sent a message that such a person does not belong in a group of people intending to change Serbia for the better. Stamatović recently attracted public attention when a training camp for children was organized in the municipality of Čajetina, of which he is the president.

The League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina and its president Nenad Čanak called on the members of the Alliance for Serbia to distance themselves from the actions and views of their colleague and coalition partner Stamatović, emphasizing that Stamatović's views belong to the past and are part of an anti-democratic corpus of values, which the opposition alternative to the current regime must not be contaminated with.

In a joint statement, the leaders of the Alliance for Serbia stated that they did not gather only to replace the government led by the President of Serbia and the Serbian Progressive Party, Aleksandar Vučić, but to "replace the policy of humiliation of all citizens of Serbia." 

- That is why we have moved from words to deeds and agreed on about 30 program points, the implementation of which depends on the normal life of every citizen. The fight against the policy of poverty pursued by the current government, free elections, independent media, investment in the domestic economy, measures to encourage birth rates and support families, investigation of the origin of property, and the issue of Kosovo and Metohija – there is no room for our ideological differences there. This gives hope that changes can occur in Serbia – the joint statement of the Alliance reads.

The leaders of this opposition bloc previously stated that decisions in the alliance would be made by consensus, that they would not have a single president, but a Presidency in which representatives of all ten founders would be present, and the presiding member would rotate every month according to the alphabetical order of the Presidency members' names.

As announced, in addition to the Presidency, a special body – the Conference for Serbia – will function, which will serve as a consultative body of the Alliance where all those who later join the bloc can find their place.

The establishment of the Alliance for Serbia has been supported by numerous prominent figures from Serbia's public life. Jelena Beba Balašević, daughter of the famous singer Đorđe Balašević, poet Ljubivoje Ršumović, and famous basketball coach Dušan Duda Ivković addressed the attendees...

The main board of the DS, the strongest opposition party in Serbia, supported the party's entry into the Alliance, but some of the most prominent members of the party, such as Dragan Šutanovac, Nataša Vučković, Radoslav Milojičić, or one of the party's founders, Dragoljub Mićunović, were against it. Milojičić sarcastically asked his colleagues, "Should we bring a picture of Ratko Mladić to the GO session, or just Putin's to respect the coalition?"

Thus, just a day after the Alliance for Serbia was officially founded, numerous criticisms followed. Many believe that an Alliance where people who openly support convicted war criminals sit, choose Russia and Putin between the EU and Russia, has no chance of threatening Aleksandar Vučić's rule.

A scenario in which some parties within such an Alliance, which are already in a major crisis, completely disappear from Serbia's political scene is not impossible. This, in turn, exclusively suits Aleksandar Vučić.

The general conclusion is that the opposition in Serbia is in a truly difficult situation, and that Vučić could rule as long as he doesn't get tired of it.