POLITICAL SCENE HEADING FOR A MAJOR CHANGE: Stanković says parties have only two options!

Political parties will either reform and consolidate or disappear, says People’s Movement of Serbia MP Đorđe Stanković in an interview with Nova. Stanković decided to withdraw his name from the Narodna Srbija electoral list before the parties in the coalition themselves decided not to participate in the parliamentary elections on October 25.

“Those parties that are running in these elections in order to take several tens of thousands of votes away from the Student List, even though they boycotted the local elections in Belgrade and Niš and in about ten other cities in 2024, thereby helping the SNS remain in power in Niš, will no longer be political actors after these elections,” Stanković says, among other things.

He believes the Student List will win the elections, and also claims that Aleksandar Vučić has finally lost the support of the European Union.

“He built his political career by covering up the name of Zoran Đinđić Boulevard with a sticker bearing the name Ratko Mladić Boulevard, and now he is symbolically ending his career after the latter’s funeral.”

Why did you refuse to be on the “Narodna Srbija” electoral list?

I served as a member of parliament twice, asked hundreds of questions, clashed with many ministers and ruling-party MPs, and honorably represented and defended my city of Niš and southern Serbia.

But I would not call my absence from the list a refusal; I withdrew from the list.

I had reservations about the party’s decision to participate in the elections in a referendum-like atmosphere, but I accepted the party’s decision because I was in the minority, and we are a democratic organization.

Even after that decision, I participated in the party’s work and campaign preparations, but I am glad that in the end the collective decision was to support the Student List.

When the pro-European opposition did not unite in its original composition, was your position to support the Student List?

The ideal scenario would have been a referendum and the unification of all forces. Circumstances will eventually lead to that, but organically! Due to the lack of communication from the strongest political factor, namely the students, the best solution was to unite all political organizations on one list, and I personally advocated for that. Certainly, when that did not happen, the only realistic option was to support the Student List, and that ultimately became the decision of the coalition and all the parties within it.

And now nothing that happened before the elections were called matters anymore. What matters exclusively is high turnout in the October 25 elections and a victory for the Student List, and I will do my best with my colleagues to help achieve that.

In the end, the list was withdrawn, even though it had been submitted to the RIK. How was that decision ultimately made?

What is important is that the right decision was made. Let me remind you that the People’s Movement of Serbia participated constructively in all local elections preceding the parliamentary elections and was always a partner to the student movement. In Zaječar, when it was a coalition of opposition lists and the students supported it and it won close to 40%, as well as in Knjaževac and Smederevska Palanka, when we ran in coalitions but achieved a double-digit result alongside the Student List, and also in Bajina Bašta, when it was a joint list of all the student-backed lists. Political reality should not be denied but adapted to. The fundamental goal is to replace the SNS regime, and that is the fundamental goal and focus of all of us until October 25.

Did you have problems within the party because of your views on all of this?

The party is a democratic organization, and not everyone thinks alike. Sometimes I was in the majority, sometimes in the minority, but I believe that I always had the right positions and made the right decisions. Those who are worth their salt never create problems; they solve them and move forward. So I have no problems, we are all mobilizing within the party to support the students! It is important to look to the future and be ready for it.

Do you think there is a chance that Aleksandar Vučić’s regime will be replaced in these elections?

This is the opportunity of a generation, and I think we must not miss it! And yes, my impression is that victory is possible! Žaklina Tatalović asked Vučić, “How is the packing going?” At that moment, what went through my mind was: we are packing “either us or him.”

My impression is that many people of my generation, especially those who have young children or are planning a family, want to leave this country, and election day may give them hope or motivate them to leave anyway. However, this is a game of chess and we will play it to the end. Everyone must contribute as much as they can, because there is nothing more important than winning the elections. I believe that our coalition’s withdrawal was an unexpected move that put the regime on the defensive and gave our side a path to victory!

Ten days ago, when he called the elections, he had a divided opposition, a divided SPS and students who veto unofficial leaders of the movement. Today the atmosphere is polarized, the opposition side has been mobilized in the form of the Student List, and the elections have become a referendum! I expect the SNS to disintegrate immediately before election day, and I expect a Hungarian scenario in terms of the election results. But turnout is key!

Will you contribute as a party, but also personally, on election day itself in the effort to defend the will of the voters at polling stations?

Of course, polling stations, the city and republic electoral commissions — everything will be at the service of defending the election results. And personally, depending on the assessment I make, I will either be at the polling station itself or working as an election observer. But we have 34 days until the elections, which leaves plenty of time for visits to locations throughout Serbia, as well as for the GoTV campaign, which I plan to conduct with the Nova Generacija organization in Niš.

The synergy of all opposition actors is important, and conditions are now emerging for that. I am glad that many colleagues of my generation have decided to support the Student List, and I believe that together we will visit Leskovac and Vranje, Aleksinac and Prokuplje, Zaječar and Knjaževac, and the entire region of southeastern Serbia, because the accumulation of positive energy will be crucial in this campaign!

What, in your opinion, should the opposition do after the elections? Should changes be introduced in the way political activity is conducted?

It is no secret that since the 2024 local elections I have been advocating the consolidation of the opposition political scene. Perhaps there was no room for that, although there was a need for it, but I think it will certainly become a necessity. Parties will either reform and consolidate or disappear; after all, that is the message we are seeing in these elections as well. The electoral threshold must be returned to 5%, and, more importantly, the electoral system should be changed to a mixed majority-proportional system, so that we directly vote for the MPs who represent us.

Those parties that are running in these elections in order to take several tens of thousands of votes away from the Student List, even though they boycotted the local elections in Belgrade and Niš and in about ten other cities in 2024, thereby helping the SNS remain in power in Niš, will no longer be political actors after these elections.

You were very active in bringing everything that has happened in Serbia over the past two years to the attention of the European Union. How do you now view the news that, following European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also canceled her visit to Serbia?

Yes, this is an important pillar of Vučić’s staying in power. He has always bought the support of leaders who turn a blind eye to major theft and problems in Serbia. The EPP is a major pillar of this self-preservation of Vučić within the EU. However, things are changing rapidly this time.

In addition to Commissioner Marta Kos not coming and now Ursula von der Leyen also not coming, there is also a procedure underway against the SNS within the EPP, because they too understand how corrupt, undemocratic and fundamentally un-European Aleksandar Vučić’s regime is. In recent months, I also visited Washington, Brussels and Berlin. My impression is that everyone knows everything, but an alternative was needed. I think we can now all clearly see it.

Both reacted very strongly to the images that came from our country, from Ratko Mladić’s funeral. Why is this issue more important to Europe than the information that students and the opposition were wiretapped in Serbia?

Both issues are important to them, and I think the wiretapping is just one level of the problem that is unfolding. But the issue of Ratko Mladić’s funeral was Aleksandar Vučić’s political arena.

The goal was to consolidate the national electorate, particularly in Republika Srpska, and, of course, to divide Serbia once again. However, alongside that idea, something else happened: the radicals within him were exposed, something that the EU had forgotten, and now he reminded them.

Perhaps he also had approval for this spectacle, but within the European Union he sparked a major controversy, and it will not end there. He built his political career by covering up the name of Zoran Đinđić Boulevard with a sticker bearing the name Ratko Mladić Boulevard, and now he is symbolically ending his career after Mladić’s funeral.