Is the student list an alternative or simply a replacement for Vučić?

The emerging political organization, which calls itself the "Student List", held a political rally titled "Knowledge is Power", which was supposed to be one of the steps in the further process of its organizational and programmatic-ideological consolidation.

Dragan Shormaz

After Vidovdan, students have once again chosen a religious holiday to hold the rally – the day of Saint Sava. This is a paradox, since academic citizens identify with an undoubtedly historical figure, but it is a cleric who propagated dogma. Meanwhile, there are so many examples of personalities who have promoted knowledge, such as Dositej Obradovic, Nikola Tesla, Milutin Milankovic, Mihajlo Pupini and others.

In their public appearances, they have chosen the methodology of gradual and partial formulation of the future program, while still visibly avoiding declaring on key political issues that divide public opinion in Serbia.

Based on appearances so far, it seems that the leaders of this initiative avoid clear political positioning, in an effort to maintain a broad and ideologically ambiguous base of electoral support. For this reason, the “students” place emphasis on the emotional rather than political identification of potential voters, focusing on the irreconcilable conflict with the regime of Aleksandar Vučić, rather than on formulating a clear policy that the new movement would offer in the upcoming elections.

Even for citizens with minimal political knowledge, it is clear that students do not offer solutions to the most important issues of our time, such as European integration, relations with Russia, security policy, the energy situation, the NIS issue, as well as economic policy.

This is precisely the main reason why populist and nationalist elements dominate the discourse of this political alternative, accompanied by a pronounced presence of Kosovar and church iconography as distinctive signs of protest rallies. Such a discourse not only blurs real political differences, but also further narrows the space for rational debate on key state and social issues.

On the other hand, the regime also responds to this challenge by strengthening populist-nationalist messages, which makes almost the entire dynamics of the political process in the country resemble more a hereditary debate between the two wings of Seselj's Radical Party, than a confrontation of ideas and concepts that would lead Serbia towards the future.

Thus, only as a faint signal of their program, the leaders of the student option have mentioned the fight against corruption, accompanied by unrealistic populist promises of lustration. However, apart from the demand for more rigorous implementation of the existing Law on the Origin of Wealth — a law that is deliberately filled with loopholes and shortcomings — the representatives of this political alternative have not presented clear and concrete measures that would substantially improve the fight against the pervasive corruption in Serbian society and the state system.

Following their strategy of organizational and programmatic invisibility, as well as emphasizing emotional political identification with potential voters, the leaders of the new political organization rejected Vučić's invitation for talks on reducing tensions in society. Although the reason for the refusal lies in the need for the future electoral list to be presented to voters as an uncompromising opponent of the current regime, with this hasty and sufficiently ill-considered action, the "students" have made a fundamental mistake and have missed an opportunity to further weaken the regime's positions.

Instead of rejecting the invitation to dialogue in advance, the leaders of the new opposition should accept it, but with clear conditions on the topics of the talks. The central topic should be the formation of a transitional government, which would guarantee free and fair elections. Such a proposal would certainly be rejected by Vučić, but precisely this rejection would give the student list a considerable political advantage, since most citizens would perceive this action as a rational step towards reducing tensions and overcoming the crisis.

So, the list's representatives should have accepted the invitation not to legitimize the regime, but precisely the opposite: to use the dialogue as a platform to position themselves as a rational, responsible alternative with concrete proposals for overcoming the social and political crisis.

As before, the “students” continue to demonstrate a basic lack of understanding of how political processes work, as well as a worrying trend towards populism, nationalism, and a negative attitude towards the country’s real prospects for future development, including membership in the European Union and NATO.

Now, the next rally is announced as Sretenja. So, nothing changes. The student movement has clearly articulated its plan and “program”: nationalism, instrumentalization of the Kosovo issue, political and strategic self-isolation. They believe that they can defeat Vučić by “kidnapping” and recycling the same populist deceptions that he sells to the citizens. This approach clearly suggests that behind the student list are Russian factors, who are not interested in a real change of the system in Serbia, even if Vučić loses power. Such a development also shows that the student list is increasingly sliding towards the scenario experienced by the “Serbia against violence” coalition: gradual loss of public support due to unclear policies and lack of strategic direction.

Without a clear programmatic articulation and without a willingness to confront real political issues, this initiative, for the moment, does not appear as a real alternative to the existing order, but rather as its reflection in the mirror — an oppositional version of the same model. With these political positions, the “students” represent nothing more than a formal replacement, but not a real alternative to the Vučić regime.

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