Movement of Free Citizens Still without Decision on Election Boycott

Sergej Trifunovic (Beta/Milan Obradovic)

Movement of Free Citizens leader Sergej Trifunovic has said that the movement has not yet decided on whether to boycott the next parliamentary elections in Serbia, noting that the pressure to endorse the boycott right away is unacceptable. The movement does not have a decision in place because it represents someone’s fixation developed prior to any mention or agreement and the movement will not go for it particularly if that someone starts to exert pressure, Trifunovic has told the latest issue of Belgrade weekly NIN.

He also said that the movement’s decision depended on a number of factors, including the outcome of the talks organized at the Belgrade Faculty of Political Sciences and also on potential changes in relation to election conditions. “Unless changes are made in the foreseeable future, then ‘boycott,’ the most expensive Serbian word which has even put the word Kosovo into storage, will be a very likely solution. However, a boycott must not be the goal, but only the means,” Trifunovic specified.

Speaking about “the Agreement with the People,” an informal document referred to by those championing the boycott and also signed by the movement, Trifunovic described it as “a rather imperfect and unfinished document containing many flaws,” stressing though that he would honor it.

Commenting on the announced deployment of an international election observation mission by the OSCE, Trifunovic described it as “good, but insufficient,” recalling that the OSCE was responsibly only for observation and not the creation of the election process. “It is definitely a good signal that Europe has not given up on Serbia and that Europe is yet aware of what is happening,” Trifunovic noted.