The advantage that those in power have – primarily the budget and propaganda – should prevail over political failures and hitherto unprecedented corruption. That is a replacement for harsher methods of stealing elections by force and trickery. It is better if a vote can be bought than if it has to be extorted or fabricated
Negotiations are being held on electoral conditions to ensure that the government doesn’t have the advantages that it has precisely because it holds power. An obvious example is public media channels like television. The government usually has multiple ways that it can use state television as a means of its own propaganda. The same can be said of public companies. And the whole public sector. That’s because careers and income and other opportunities depend on the will of those in power. Ahead of next April’s general elections, these sources of support have already been secured by the authorities, although salary increases and promises of new investments can be expected in order to secure votes in the elections.
The people who are in power have an advantage over the opposition in the fact that, while the opposition can make promises, the authorities can rely on their control of the national budget. And can share out the money, as they also do. That is neither specific to Serbia nor to the current government. The difference lies in the fact that the ruling parties are now preparing for elections in which the electorate should vote for or against one person, for or against the leader, and thus for or against electoral autocracy.
The basic message is that everything – salaries, pensions, jobs, roads, utilities, hospitals and schools, security in every sense – depends on one man and his connections around the world, both political and business.
Problems are increasingly being solved by promises rather than successes, so it cannot be excluded that it will be necessary to rely on harsher methods – of force and theft – to secure the desired outcome
The advantage that those in power have – primarily the budget and propaganda – should prevail over political failures and hitherto unprecedented corruption. That is a replacement for harsher methods of stealing elections by force and trickery. It is better if a vote can be bought than if it has to be extorted or fabricated. This is also because it isn’t a matter of merely winning these elections, but rather of securing the enduring omnipotence of one man and his party.
In a certain sense, the price is increasing primarily because the state of public healthcare is deteriorating significantly, with the prospect of things looking even worse during the time of the elections. And then also because there is an increasing number of scandals of all kinds, which are mainly related to the business interests of those in power. Under such circumstances, there is ordinarily a purge of the party, which is actually being announced.
And finally, help is coming in the form of escalating conflicts and the risk of insecurity at the borders and around the neighbourhood. Mobilization around the leader would certainly be useful, both for the election turnout and for the readiness to accept the election results however they’re achieved.
As far as can be seen, money will be handed out, salaries and pensions will increase, patriotism will be sought and the opposition will be accused of treason. It is calculated that this should be enough to ensure the desired outcome. However, given that public health risks are not abating and problems are increasingly being solved by promises rather than successes, it cannot be excluded that it will be necessary to rely on harsher methods – of force and theft – to secure the desired outcome.
