Vucevic in Novi Pazar Predicts Record Result for List
At a United Serbia rally in the Novi Pazar Cultural Center, Vucevic attacked the Student List and urged voters to turn out on October 25.
Milos Vucevic, president of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), urged citizens at a rally in the Novi Pazar Cultural Center on Sunday, October 11, to vote on October 25 for the “Aleksandar Vucic - United Serbia” list, which holds ballot number one. Vucevic also said he expects the list to post its best result to date in the city.
Vucevic did not speak alone in Novi Pazar. Uros Petrovic, the SNS City Committee commissioner in the city, also addressed the rally.
How did the rally in the Cultural Center go?
According to RTV Novi Pazar, the crowd was first welcomed with fireworks and torches, and the Cultural Center hall was full, with some people standing at the sides. None of the sources says how many people attended. Vucevic, as the same outlet reports, said the turnout surprised him and that he sees it as a sign of growing support for the list.
He opened his address with greetings to Novi Pazar, the Raska administrative district, Serbs and Bosniaks. He presented the name of the list as a response to division, hatred, anger and violence.
“If any place, any city, is the right address to promote the United Serbia list, then it is Novi Pazar,” Vucevic said.
He added that Serbs and Bosniaks live together in Novi Pazar and that everyone has the right to their own customs, culture, script, language and faith.
“Not next to one another, but together, with one another, we live,” Vucevic said.
What did Vucevic say about investment in the region?
Speaking about the development of Novi Pazar and its surroundings, Vucevic singled out the construction of the Clinical Hospital Center and road infrastructure, and RTV Novi Pazar reports that he also mentioned an athletics center. He gave no investment figures. He tied the region’s progress to Vucic this way:
“If anyone has shown care for the development of this area and this region, it is Aleksandar Vucic,” the SNS president said.
Vucevic said Aleksandar Vucic is the list’s candidate for prime minister. He described the elections scheduled for October 25 as among the most important since 2012 and called on citizens to give their answer at the polling station.
“The best answer is with a pencil and paper. The best answer is at the polling station,” Vucevic said.
He then set out his expectation for Novi Pazar:
“I feel that Novi Pazar will deliver the best result ever. A record result for our list,” Vucevic said.
According to RTV Novi Pazar, he also announced that preparations for local elections will follow these elections.
How did Vucevic talk about the Student List?
Vucevic devoted part of his speech to political opponents. He accused the Student List of deepening divisions in society and blocking institutions, and he criticized the blockades of educational institutions, which, he said, cost pupils and students time.
He took particular aim at Dejan Soskic, the former governor of the National Bank of Serbia. Vucevic claimed that the policy he attributes to Soskic would endanger the stability of the dinar and make loan repayments more expensive. He urged citizens to weigh that against their own costs:
“Think about it, all of you, dear citizens, about your homes, about your budgets. Think about what they are telling you,” Vucevic said.
Reports from the rally do not record any response from the Student List to these claims.
In the closing part of the speech he thanked pensioners and women. Of women, he said:
“Women have always been more rational, more stable, calmer,” Vucevic said, and according to Objektiv he described them as the pillar of the family and the state.
What did Uros Petrovic say?
Petrovic said that since May 12 the SNS in Novi Pazar has been gathering a growing number of members, Serbs and Bosniaks. In his words, several hundred million euros have been invested in the city, mostly in roads, the reconstruction of the hospital, schools and sports facilities. He did not mention figures for individual projects.
“Novi Pazar is a distinctive and beautiful city. Serbs and Bosniaks have lived here side by side for centuries,” Petrovic said.
On October 25, Petrovic said, citizens will choose between a policy of peace, stability and economic development and a policy of blockades and stagnation.
Who else spoke in the same hall?
Ivica Dacic, president of the Socialist Party of Serbia and head of the “Factor of Stability” list, also held a rally in the same Cultural Center. According to N1, Dacic said a “safe harbor” is needed and that a good result for his party is the precondition for political stability.
“We must not allow Serbia to slide into political instability and a political crisis. That is why a good result for the Socialist Party of Serbia and our coalition is the precondition for the survival of political stability in Serbia,” Dacic told those gathered.
According to N1, before the rally Dacic visited the Police Department and the Fire and Rescue Unit in Novi Pazar. He told police officers that the security situation is stable.
