Analyst: Student Movement Better Positioned than Milosevic-Toppling Opposition

Djordje Vukadinović/Beta/Miloš Miškov

Compared to the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS), which toppled Slobodan Milosevic’s regime on Oct. 5, 2000, the Student Movement is in a noticeably better position, but maintaining unity and avoiding DOS’s mistakes will be pivotal to successful change, Djordje Vukadinovic, a political analyst and the editor-in-chief of the New Serbian Political Thought periodical, opined on Nov. 12.

“In that respect, the students are at an advantage. They have no pre-existing big parties or leaders backed by entire party infrastructures and interest groups. This does not mean that [the university student movement and its ticket] do not comprise a variety of ideological stances and ambitions, but they are in the position to avoid some of the main pitfalls DOS succumbed to,” Vukadinovic told the NIN weekly.

The analyst went on to explain that the university student movement, whose ticket won the snap parliamentary elections on Oct. 25, currently occupies nearly the entire political position, but that this is “temporary” since the current movement will separate into at least two or three parties or political groups.

“Some are hoping for a two-party system like that of the U.S. or, formerly, the U.K,” Vukadinovic said, adding: “I think that’s not realistic and wouldn’t be good either. Serbia’s reality is too complex to be shoved into just two political options.”

According to him, Serbia can potentially expect three political blocs: the Euro-reformists, the centrists and the nationalist-conservatives.