Tepic: 'Students or us' is a false dilemma
SSP deputy leader Marinika Tepic argues the choice between students and the opposition is artificial, while a joint election bid still eludes them before Vidovdan.
- SSP deputy leader Marinika Tepic calls the "students or us" choice an artificial dilemma.
- With no deal on a single list before Vidovdan, the likeliest outcome is three separate columns.
- Students say they will not reveal names on their list until elections are formally called.
- The governing camp is already deep into campaigning while the opposition and students keep negotiating.
Marinika Tepic, deputy leader of the Freedom and Justice Party (SSP), has dismissed the choice between students and the opposition as false, arguing that the “students or us” framing is artificially imposed. She made the remark ahead of Vidovdan, at a moment when talks on a joint election bid still have no concrete outcome. In her view, a pro-European list cannot hurt a student list, because both sides serve the same goal, each in its own way.
“I think this students-or-us is more of an artificially imposed dilemma. No, the only solution is both the students and us and everyone in the opposition front, each contributing in their own way,” Tepic said. She added that the SSP respects the student movement and its role in awakening society, but that political parties have a duty to take responsibility for political processes, one they cannot hand off to students.
Why is the opposition afraid to split its votes?
The dispute is not about values but about arithmetic. Part of the opposition bloc fears that running several parallel columns would scatter the anti-government vote and leave some of it below the threshold. Tepic turns that logic on its head. By her reading, a pro-European list does not take votes from students but widens the front and draws in voters a student list alone would not reach. Inside opposition circles, however, a deal on a single bid is still out of reach.
The likeliest scenario, according to people close to the talks, is a run in three columns. The first would be the student list, the second a pro-European opposition built around parties that share European values, and the third a right-wing, national bloc. That arrangement means three separate election bids instead of one, and three separate campaigns against a government already on the ground. Tepic recalled that the SSP has been a pro-European party since its founding, so, as she put it, it is natural that it takes part in talks to gather forces that share the same values.
What awaits students and the opposition before Vidovdan
For now, students have said they will not publish the names on their list until elections are formally called. The move lets them negotiate without pressure, but it also slows the formation of a broader coalition, since other players do not know exactly which names they would be running alongside. In an election cycle where every campaign day counts, uncertainty over the list looks like a luxury the opposition can ill afford.
On the other side, the government is not waiting. While the opposition and students align their bids, the ruling structure is already deep into campaigning, with access to media and resources its challengers lack. The time advantage is measurable and grows with each day the deal is delayed. The question Tepic raises, whether “students or us” is a real or a false dilemma, will ultimately be settled not by rhetoric but by the decision on who joins whose list and on what terms.
Would the opposition stand a better chance running in one shared column or in three separate bids before voters?
