University Professor Heading Student Movement Ticket Says Confident of Victory

Ilija Srdanovic (Photo: PrintScreen YouTube)

Ilija Srdanovic, who heads the ticket, The Students Will Win, said on Sept. 19 that he is certain of the ticket's victory in the Oct. 25 early parliamentary elections, adding that the university student protest movement is ready to defend every ballot through non-violent means.

Srdanovic told BETA in an interview that after 14 years in power neither the Serbian Progressive Party nor incumbent Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic deserve "a passing grade," and that after the government is changed the priority will be to renew trust in state institutions and the rule of law. Asked what made him accept the student movement's invitation to be on The Students Will Win ticket, Srdanovic said the situation in Serbia "does not leave room for waffling, second-guessing or looking for the most comfortable solution. "I was honored when my students, my pupils, the youth of our Serbia asked me to be on this ticket," he stressed.

Asked whether he expects a change of government on Oct. 25, he said it is clearer than ever who has the people's trust. "Of course I do. It is clearer than ever who has the people's trust. Lines of citizens as far as the eye could see waiting to give their signatures and support the student ticket even before knowing who is on it speak to that. It's important for us all to be as one on that day and to preserve every vote entrusted to us. Monitoring the elections will not take place only at polling places, but on the street too, and we all know that street very well. We know whom we are fighting, but we are read to defend every vote through non-violent means," he stressed.

Asked if and how important it would have been if all opposition parties had endorsed the student movement ticket, he said the student movement advocates a democratic social order and does not go into the decisions of other political options. "Still, we believe that at this election the question goes beyond any ideological framework and is a simple choice: Serbia or the mafia," the professor said.