Vucic Promises Kragujevac 1,500 Euro Pay, Local Shake-Up
At the United Serbia rally in Jezero hall, Vucic gave figures for wages and pensions, announced shake-ups in local government and brought Nikolic back to the podium. Sources differ on the wage figure.
Aleksandar Vucic, who heads the “Aleksandar Vucic - United Serbia” list, promised in Kragujevac’s Jezero hall on Friday, October 9, that the average wage in the city will reach 1,500 euros by the end of the next government’s term, if voters back him for prime minister in the October 25 election. In the same speech he said the average pension in Serbia will be 520 euros in January and above 750 by the end of his term, and that “more than 50 percent of the people in local government” will have to leave office.
The rally had been announced in advance, so what is new is what was said from the stage. The outlets that carried the speech disagree on two figures, as detailed below.
What are the wage and pension figures?
BizPortal and Alo report that Vucic said the average wage in Kragujevac is currently 992 euros. Alo quotes him this way:
“Today the average wage in Kragujevac is 992 euros. By the end of the next government’s term, the average wage will be 1,500 euros.”
Vreme puts the current average wage in the city at 952 euros, while BizPortal, Alo and Vreme all give the 1,500 euro target. Mondo’s transcript of the speech carries a different number: “The average wage in Kragujevac will be 1,050 euros, those are big changes.” Because four outlets give 1,500 euros, that is the figure used here, but the exact wording can only be confirmed on a recording of the speech.
On pensions the outlets agree. Mondo reports:
“Just as I said that pensions follow wages, I want the pension to be above 750 euros at the end of my term.”
Vucic also said: “In January the average pension in Serbia will be 520 euros.”
What did he say about changes in government?
According to Alo, the most concrete personnel announcement concerned his own ranks. Vucic said his political camp must first change itself:
“More than 50 percent of the people in local government will have to leave office, so that we replace them with new people who want to listen to citizens.”
He added that changes among ministers will be “even bigger”. Speaking about the period before 2012, he said Kragujevac, with a smaller population, now has 14,000 more employed people than it did then.
What was promised to Kragujevac and Serbia?
For Kragujevac, he mentioned a northern bypass, an expressway and a link to Corridors 10 and 11, as well as an innovation district with new data centers and supercomputers. For healthcare, he announced that the first phase of investment starts in March or April, and said it should be “a space shuttle here, Sumadija style”. On the road toward Arandjelovac he said: “I want us to finish the Karadjordje bridge, because when it reaches Arandjelovac, it goes on to Raca, then to Despotovac, then to Bor.”
For the whole country he promised water supply and sewerage in every village: “We have to solve the water supply in Serbia, sewerage must be in all our villages.” He also repeated that the list stands for military neutrality, no recognition of Kosovo and no sanctions against Russia.
What did Vucic tell his opponents and voters?
He called out the Student List for refusing a debate: “Some plenums decide. Someone will turn up everywhere for some debate, but they never want to debate me.” The sources we reviewed do not carry a response from the Student List to this speech.
He urged pensioners to vote with their families in mind: “With your vote for United Serbia, you protect and look after your grandchildren and great-grandchildren and their future.” The speech opened with thanks: “Thank you, people, thank you very much. I have never felt an atmosphere like the one I felt tonight.” Alo adds that he recalled 33 years of joint rallies with Tomislav Nikolic.
What role did Tomislav Nikolic play?
Former Serbian president Tomislav Nikolic, whom the SNS brought back into politics, also spoke from the stage. By the timeline in Mondo’s live blog, Nikolic spoke around 6:36 p.m., and Vucic took the podium around 6:45 p.m. Nikolic said he was there to “say what I think in Kragujevac, where I was born and to which I am inseparably bound”, and described the election this way:
“October 25 is the day Serbia decides whether it will go on with us with its head held high, or will repeat the leap into the well blindfolded.”
How was the rally broadcast?
According to Vreme, four television channels carried the rally live. TV Prva aired it as political advertising, a “rented slot” that a party pays for during a campaign, with a label in the corner of the screen, while TV Informer and Kurir ran special programs on the rally in Sumadija.
On the same page, Vreme also reports that on October 10 the OSCE’s ODIHR said the snap parliamentary elections in Serbia are marked by deep political polarization, pressure on voters, misuse of public resources and unequal campaign conditions.
