PODES and Dragan Milic Back Student List in Nis

The Movement for the Decentralization of Serbia (PODES) and the citizens’ group “Dr. Dragan Milic” announced on September 11 that they are backing the Student List in the upcoming parliamentary elections and putting their infrastructure and resources at its disposal. The citizens’ group “Nislije da se pitaju,” co-founded by Faculty of Law professor Tamara Milenkovic Kerkovic, joined the show of support the same day. Nis has thus become a city where four separate election drives are now running in parallel within a span of just a few days.

Milic said in a statement that backing the students is a matter of principle, not party affiliation.

Supporting the students is a matter of patriotism. Anyone who is a patriot will support the students regardless of ideological leaning.

Milic said, adding that PODES and his citizens’ group are putting all of their resources and infrastructure at the students’ disposal. He also called on other opposition parties and organizations in Nis to do the same, saying that “this historic moment calls for unified action.”

Milenkovic Kerkovic wrote on social media that she personally, along with the group she co-founded, would give her vote and her support to the students.

The elections ahead of us will not be a clash of policies, nor a clash of ideologies, but a battle of light against darkness, a clash of being and non-being that will decide whether Serbia will be a country for us and our children.

Milenkovic Kerkovic said.

Where to sign for the Student List in Nis

Signature collection for the “Student List, Students Win” ticket began on Saturday, September 12, at three locations across the city, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.:

• unit P7 on the second floor of the Ambasador shopping center, at 3 Strahinjica Bana Street, reached through the side passage
• a unit at 41 Pantelejska Street
• the Ban cafe at 5 Univerzitetski Trg

According to reports from the ground, people were already lining up outside the venues before signature collection officially began.

The Socialist Party of Serbia was also collecting signatures that same day, for the “Ivica Dacic, Factor of Stability” list, at the party’s offices on Nade Tomic Street, but only until 4 p.m.

When do the other lists start

The weekend in Nis was not reserved only for the Student List and the Socialists. The “People’s Choice” coalition, made up of the Serbian People’s Movement, New Face of Serbia and the Ecological Uprising, has been collecting signatures in Nis since September 13. Srpske vesti previously reported that the coalition is gathering signatures at more than a hundred locations across Serbia, with Nis being just one of them.

Also on September 13, signature collection began for the “European Serbia” list, made up of the Party of Freedom and Justice, Serbia Center and Solidarity. Signatures are being collected from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the SSP offices at 10/3 Obrenoviceva Street and the SRCE offices at 1/1 Generala Milojka Lesjanina Street.

The ruling side did not wait either. The “Aleksandar Vucic, United Serbia” list started earliest in Nis, already on September 11, at more than 20 locations. Nis Mayor Dragoslav Pavlovic attended the signature drive at the City Committee offices on Vojvode Misica Street, where he predicted a strong turnout of citizens.

How many signatures does a list need to be certified?

Any election list running in the upcoming vote needs at least 10,000 certified citizen signatures to be registered. The parliamentary elections are set for October 25, and with the filing deadline approaching, the remaining political options are expected to step up signature collection in the coming days, not only in Nis but across the rest of Serbia.

For now, Nis is the city where the divided political landscape is most visible. While one side of town is signing up for the ruling party’s list, the other sees opposition figures, from the Socialists to local citizens’ groups like the one led by Dragan Milic, racing to be the first to stand behind the students.