The last six months have seen mass, grassroots protests in Serbia, in a student-led movement first triggered by the collapse of the canopy at the Novi Sad train station that killed sixteen people. The movement has surely been tactically diverse. It has blockaded universities and high schools, roads and bridges, and even the national broadcaster. It has launched some of the largest demonstrations and gatherings in Serbia’s history. It has sought cooperation with trade unions, organized across different sectors, and built people’s assemblies and strike mobilizations. It has marched across Serbia and run across half of Europe.
Now the movement has called for the dissolution of the National Assembly and the holding of early parliamentary elections. So does this turn mark the end of the movement, or a new beginning? Lacking either a strong left-wing party or trade union infrastructure, how can a movement like this translate its energy into tangible political gains — electoral or otherwise — that really benefit the social majority?
Several problems lie ahead. One is that, according to Serbia’s constitution, the elections must be called by the very person whom the students (in their desire to restore institutional functionality) have until now treated as incompetent to act: the president of the republic. Another issue concerns the creation of an informal “social front” of the different groups and individuals that have supported the students, and which can produce an electoral list capable of winning elections. Even if the president does call a vote, and the students succeed in organizing such a front, what does that mean for the broad popular movement and the parallel structures built so far? In other words, what’s the score after…
Auteur: Lela Vujanić
