DS Calls Rival Opposition Lists Fake Ahead of October 25
DS is urging voters to back the student list in Serbia's October 25 election, branding rival lists from SSP, Centre of Serbia and Solidarity as fake opposition columns.
The Democratic Party (DS) called on citizens on September 9 to vote for the student list in the October 25 parliamentary election, the same day the Party of Freedom and Justice (SSP), Centre of Serbia and Solidarity unveiled their own joint list. In a statement, DS labeled every list running against the student list a fake opposition column and said none of them deserves the vote of anyone opposed to Aleksandar Vucic’s government.
The DS statement landed the same day the academic community sent an open letter to opposition parties and movements with the same demand: drop their own lists and back the student one instead. The letter was signed by the Rebel University, the Free State University in Novi Pazar, the Network of Academic Solidarity and Engagement (MASA) and the University of Arts Forum. DS thanked the signatories, saying their move showed they were acting responsibly and in the public interest.
“Restoring democratic institutions is a precondition for restoring party political life, not the end of it,” the signatories of the open letter said, adding that any decision to run in the election should be judged by whether it increases or decreases the chances of democratic change.
A Decision Made More Than a Year Ago
DS points out that its decision not to field its own list was not made recently. According to its statement, the party threw its unconditional support behind the student list more than a year ago, when students in blockade first demanded early parliamentary elections, and decided then not to seek a single seat in its own name.
The key condition for an opposition win, DS argues, is preserving the so called referendum atmosphere from the peak of the protests. The party put it this way:
“Serbia today has no more urgent task than removing Vucic’s mafia regime and returning the state to its citizens. Victory is possible only if we preserve the referendum atmosphere that has already been built and rally every force for change around the student list: Serbia or the mafia.”
The party added that such a choice leaves “no room for excuses, calculations or fake opposition columns,” and that no list running against the student one deserves either understanding or the vote of anyone opposed to the regime. DS argues that every vote cast for a rival list is a vote that weakens the opposition. It summed up the message in one line: “Only a vote for the student list is a vote against the regime.”
Who Is Backing the Student List
As of September 9, the parties that have chosen to support the student list instead of running their own include Kreni-Promeni, the Green-Left Front, Dveri, the Movement for the Restoration of the Kingdom of Serbia, the Social Democratic Party and Enough Is Enough. As we reported earlier this month, the Movement of Free Citizens also decided to skip the election and throw its support solely behind the student list.
A part of the pro-European opposition, however, is preparing its own run. SSP, Centre of Serbia and Solidarity, united under the Platform for a European Serbia, presented their joint list on September 9, the very day DS published its statement. DS does not name that list directly, but it falls squarely within what the party calls fake opposition columns.
No Response Yet From the Other Lists
As of this writing, SSP, Centre of Serbia, Solidarity and the People’s Movement of Serbia had not responded to being branded a fake opposition column. Pressure on opposition parties not to split the vote is also coming from the students themselves: in a statement on September 6, students in blockade said all opposition actors have a duty to act responsibly so votes are not scattered.
The final lineup of opposition lists will only be known once the deadline for submitting candidacies to the Republic Election Commission (RIK) closes. Judging by the tone of today’s DS statement, the behind the scenes pressure on the remaining parties to step aside for the student list will likely only grow until then, and voters will find out on October 25 whether that pressure has shifted the math on the ground.
