We don’t know what kind of decision will be brought by MEPs, but the pebble in the government’s shoe has clearly grown into a boulder, and it will gradually find it increasingly difficult to walk along the road to the EU
It is obvious that the government has constructed electoral engineering, which is evidenced by the well-planned migration of citizens from Serbia and Serbs who live in Republika Srpska, which was the most important factor to ensure the results of local elections, primarily in Belgrade. Serbia’s competent authorities – the election commission, prosecution service and courts – haven’t yet implemented the activities necessary to investigate, in a transparent way, all credible reports and evidence submitted with regard to the irregularities of the December elections. Those elections represented a pebble in the government’s shoe.
Discussing Serbia’s elections then made it onto the daily agenda of a European Parliament session. According to the head of the EP election observation mission, “what’s new is the brutal openness with which these irregularities took place”, so “it looked like the Serbian authorities did not even care. Why? Because they are still confident that nothing will happen.”
If Serbia wants to live in a dignified way, it must implement urgent electoral reforms in order to restore citizens’ real sovereignty, which mustn’t be appropriated by any individual or political organisation
But it has already happened, and MEPs will vote on a resolution on the elections at a plenary session to be held in the first week of February. We don’t know what kind of decision they will make, nor are we obliged to implement it, but it is clear that the pebble has grown into a boulder, with the increasing likelihood that the government’s shoes will fill with rocks that will make it very difficult to walk along the road to the EU.
When it comes to the question of whether it makes sense to reject the mandates won, the united opposition will have to answer with a unified decision. A government isn’t legitimate when it has been elected illegitimately. The government is announcing the constituting of the Assembly, followed by voting on the government, before all legal means can be utilised to confirm the regularity of the elections and make decisions accordingly. If opposition MPs reject their mandates, we will have a de facto one-party parliament, leaving the opposition with no visibility, nor the possibility of participating in political life. If the opposition accepts the allotted mandates, it could be criticised for participating in the work of illegitimate institutions, though it will be able to participate in decision-making in government institutions, and will be visible. The first option could make sense, in advocating for ethics and respect for democratic standards, but with a lack of expediency. The second option has expedience and represents the will of voters for the opposition to participate in exercising power.
What kinds of enduring outcomes are possible for the government and the opposition? The government has already endured, with ruined institutions, drowning in corruption and organised crime, without required experts. An extension of that longevity unavoidably leads to a loss of power. The opposition, whoever it is and whenever it comes to power, will be faced by a country devoid of assets, youth and experts.
Photo: Medija centar Beograd
