Dacic Promises 7,000 More Police and New Labor Law at Arena

The coalition led by the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) held its main campaign rally at Belgrade Arena on Sunday evening, October 11. SPS leader Ivica Dacic promised from the stage to hire another 7,000 police officers, pass a new labor law and ban online betting. He also announced that, if he runs, he will win the presidential election. The rally took place two weeks before the snap parliamentary elections scheduled for October 25.

Who is on the “Ivica Dacic - Stability Factor” list?

The list, which appears on the ballot as number two, brings together the SPS, United Serbia, the Social Democratic Party of Serbia (SDPS) and the Greens of Serbia. Besides Dacic, the speakers were United Serbia leader Dalibor Markovic and SDPS leader Jug Radivojevic. Greens of Serbia leader Ivan Karic did not attend because of health problems, N1 reports. Short messages of support came from Petar Djokic of the Socialist Party in Republika Srpska, Darko Banjac of the People’s Party of Srpska, Slobodan Dimitrijevic of the Serbian-Russian Friendship Society and Marko Milosevic, grandson of Slobodan Milosevic.

What did Dacic promise?

The most concrete pledge concerns the police. Dacic, who is interior minister in a caretaker government, addressed officers with words relayed by N1:

“The police are here to keep us from chaos. I am on the side of the police not 100 percent, but 1,000 percent. I want to thank them for protecting the country from chaos. We need to take in another 7,000 police officers in the coming year. An attack on police officers is an attack on the country. Nobody is allowed to attack you.”

Accounts of the wording differ. According to UNA, Dacic spoke of 7,000 police officers and firefighters, “according to the staffing plan that already exists”, along with more patrols and higher salaries. He also said that after the elections “there will be no dismissals, no lustration, no persecution”.

For citizens, he announced a “new labor law”, explaining that “the state must stand with the ordinary person”. He added that young people should get easier access to housing, and he proposed banning social media for children under 15 or 16, as well as banning online betting.

Presidential election and a message to the Student List

The clearest political signal concerned the presidential election, which has not yet been called and, according to the BBC, should be held by the end of December at the latest. “Whoever wants me to be a candidate for president should also vote for us in the parliamentary elections, for list number two,” Dacic said, and then: “When the presidential elections are called, if I am a candidate, I will beat them all.”

He described the Student List, which is number three on the ballot, as an obstacle to the “stability factor”. He said that at 60 he is younger than 73 of the candidates on that list, and that the average age on his own list is 46. Of former comrades who urge people to vote for the students, he said: “That is an unnatural vice, that is betrayal.”

How many people were in the Arena?

Here the sources diverge. In a statement, the SPS said 20,000 people attended, and Dacic said from the stage: “There are 20,000 people here.” He called it the party’s biggest rally in 15 years. BBC Serbian offers no estimate of its own. Its reporter Slobodan Maricic describes a gloomy, rainy day, buses arriving one after another outside the Arena and an impression that “the enthusiasm is not quite as strong among everyone”. Milos Vidakovic from near Priboj, asked whether the SPS would clear the threshold, answered: “Who knows… There are a decent number of students.” On the other side, Mladen Rakonjac (73) from Sjenica said: “Yes, we are tougher than stone.”

For comparison, the BBC notes that the SPS won about 435,000 votes in 2022 and about 250,000 in 2023. The threshold is three percent.

A dispute over Kosovo and Ruzic’s departure

Dacic said he helped persuade more than 20 countries to withdraw recognition of Kosovo and that another 10 to 20 will do so. The BBC reports that independent research and media analyses confirm 13 withdrawals, all between 2017 and 2020.

Just before the rally, the SPS lost longtime official Branko Ruzic, who, according to the BBC, was expelled from the party after criticizing its leadership. In an interview with the BBC, Ruzic said that “SPS officials tie the party’s fate to Vucic” and that “the SPS has lost its independence and political identity”. In an interview with Euronews, Dacic replied that the party “has always gone its own way, from the very beginning, since 1990”, and said of his relationship with Aleksandar Vucic: “Over 14 years, relationships are built. There is no question on which Aleksandar Vucic and I did not hold the same views when it comes to vital state interests.”

We reported earlier, in our piece on the party in Rakovica, on the departure of 13 SPS members, among them a candidate on the list.

The line “On October 25 the clocks move from three to two, so stability” was, according to the BBC, aimed by Dacic at voters before the rally, not from the stage. The elections are on Sunday, October 25, the same day clocks change to winter time.