Eurasia Press & News
Vučić’s address to the citizens on Friday in Kraljevo was, according to media reports, impressive, and supporters demonstrated symbiosis this time as well. The president’s address was followed by numerous chants from supporters with exclamations of “Aco Srbine”.
The stands in the sports hall, where the meeting was held, and the overall atmosphere resembled a sports match where flags were waved and drums and songs of gratitude were heard.
The basic assumption is that behind this grandiose picture, which was sent from Kraljevo, but not from Novi Pazar, where the president was also staying, hides the painful truth about the constant commitment of supporters, employees and forced by the fear of dismissal in public companies, and even SNS sympathizers that they come to party gatherings, carry flags and sing songs, Danas interlocutors say.
“Without going into a specific case, the fact is that for years at similar gatherings and rallies there has been a clear scenario and division of roles, from who carries the flags and who are the flagbearers, to who starts chanting and with what texts, and who applauds and so on. In any case, this is something that has been in practice for years, especially after these progressive rallies. In that sense, without delving into the specific situation, it is not a miracle, although it is somewhat comical, if that scenario comes to light”, comments political analyst Đorđe Vukadinović.
MP and vice-president of the New DSS Zoran Sandić believes that the SNS rallies are not a true picture because “most of the people at those rallies come because they are conditioned”.
“Most of the people came to that gathering from outside and most of them had a work obligation to attend it, according to our knowledge. We know this in hundreds of examples, not only in the case of Kraljevo, and that is not good, citizens should decide for themselves whose rally they want to come to. Of course, since SNS brags about its membership and the fact that they are the strongest party, it is quite legitimate for members to come to the meeting, but we have many examples of not only members coming, but also people from companies who have an obligation to do so and what makes me a member of parliament. pensioners and older people come in particular. As for the chanting and singing, I would not comment on that, and if there was, I will leave it to their political marketing to judge whether it is good for the ratings to promote the leader through some songs or degrade the political scene and environment, which are already quite collapsed”, assesses Sandić.
It seems to Đorđe Vukadinović that, regardless of the monolithic nature of the gatherings of SNS supporters, a certain “fatigue of material” is noticeable.
“What is indisputable, in relation to the level of direction and dramaturgy, is that the energy at those gatherings is much lower than before and that Vučić himself is aware of this, as well as the organizers of these events, even though the numbers are still large. And the number is achieved by known methods, buses and the like, but, I say, the energy itself is no longer what it was before, even though they, like these gatherings now, were directed. All the same, in this pre-election campaign, the image that goes on the air is important to Vučić, and it is more or less impressive, and the rest is forgotten. What stands out more than the fact that the supporters are tired of the material, is his fatigue and declining tone,” explains Đorđe Vukadinović.
Sead Biberović from the non-governmental organization Urban In says that the president stayed not only in Kraljevo, but also in Novi Pazar and that what we are seeing now is, in his opinion, “just one continuous campaign”.
“All that is just part of a propaganda. We in Pazar have a situation where we are officially talking about the reconstruction of the general hospital, and they all say, from the president to the local officials, that this is the beginning of the construction of the Clinical Hospital Center. I’m not an expert in either medicine or construction, but I don’t think we have the basic prerequisites for getting KBC Novi Pazar in the foreseeable future. There is not only a problem with infrastructure, facilities and clinics, but also a big problem with staff”, explains our interlocutor.
As he adds, he finds the most interesting statement when he mentions “60 million euros, which they will invest, and then the president adds that the Republic invests in Sandžak more than it receives from here”.
“That is outrageous to me, because the money that is invested in the budget is the money of all citizens, including the citizens of Novi Pazar. My basic thesis is that we will end up with such ugly and obscure characters in power, the moment the majority of citizens realize that it is not the money given by this and that, but that it is our money. And in this case, they don’t give us anything or present anything, nothing more than we invest”, comments Sead Biberović, adding that the Republic has been investing in Sandzak for more than 30 years only minimally and only as much as it has to.
