Serbia has effectively transitioned into a system of direct autocracy (lična vlast), where state institutions have collapsed and President Aleksandar Vučić is actively unconstitutionally executing the duties of the prime minister to run a shadow reelection campaign. This damning assessment was delivered today by the Bureau for Social Research (BIRODI) during the presentation of their latest television monitoring report.
The comprehensive study, which analyzed the prime-time news broadcasts of seven major television channels over the first four months of the year, exposes an unprecedented, systematic media saturation designed to bypass constitutional checks and balances.
The Anatomy of Media Saturation
According to data presented by BIRODI Director Zoran Gavrilović, the sheer volume of airtime allocated to a single individual demonstrates that the ruling party has completely monopolized the country’s national airwaves:
- Aleksandar Vučić: Logged a staggering 67 hours of direct presence within monitored evening news diaries.
- The Entire Government: Combined, all state ministries and the prime minister received 57 hours of airtime, with the prime minister’s presence described as “marginal and modest.”
- Parliamentary Opposition: All registered parliamentary parties combined received less than 14 hours, out of which nine hours were dedicated exclusively to the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).
[Informativni Dnevnik Airtime]
│
┌────────────────────────────┴────────────────────────────┐
▼ ▼
[Aleksandar Vučić] [The Entire Government]
67 Hours of Solo Coverage 57 Hours Combined (All Ministers)
Systematic Constitutional Violations
BIRODI explicitly stated that Vučić is operating in continuous, flagrant violation of the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, a lawless behavior that national television channels systematically legitimize through biased reporting.
Zoran Gavrilović, Director of BIRODI: “We are living under the absolute personal rule of Vučić. We effectively have no functioning Parliament, government, or independent judiciary. A clear synopsis of this occurred when the President personally received striking public transit workers (GSP) outside the Presidency building. It is absolutely not his job to arbitrate local labor disputes. By doing so, he proved that after 14 years of his rule, regular institutions do not exist. That is a task for line ministries and the city administration. The GSP case is the ultimate synonym for the collapsed system we live in.”
The monitoring group emphasized violations of two core constitutional thresholds:
- Article 111: Violates the neutrality of the Head of State by behaving as an aggressive, partisan party leader.
- Article 123: Violates the separation of powers by directly hijacking the explicit executive role and duties of the Government.
Media Duopoly and the Smear Campaign Against Students
The report highlights a deeply fractured media landscape that insulates the voting public from alternative viewpoints. While independent cable networks like N1 and TV Nova perform critical oversight journalism, national frequency channels (RTS, Pink, Prva, Happy, B92) act as pure propaganda arms for the regime.
| Media Category | Target Subject | Editorial Stance | Operational Impact |
| National Frequencies | The Regime / Vučić | Overwhelmingly Positive | Maximizes electoral control over rural and older voting demographics. |
| National Frequencies | Student Protest Lists | 80% Negative / Hostile | Systematically smears striking university students as “blockaders” (blokaderi). |
| Independent Cable | State Institutions | Critical / Objective | Limited to urban centers without national terrestrial reach. |
Strategic “Rating Borrowing” and Psychological Warfare
The research also exposed advanced communication manipulation strategies utilized by the regime to artificially maintain high popularity. Gavrilović noted that Vučić continuously “borrows approval ratings” from the two most respected pillars of Serbian society: the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) and the Serbian Armed Forces.
This was vividly demonstrated when the President engineered a single-day media blitz, appearing at a state donation ceremony at the Saint Sava Temple, followed immediately by high-profile appearances at a military display at the Batajnica airfield and live fire exercises at Pasuljanske Livade.
Psychologist and political scientist Lazar Marićević warned that this relentless media strategy amounts to deliberate psychological exhaustion of the population. By inundating citizens with a chaotic “ocean of fragmented, contradictory information,” the regime creates an intolerable cognitive overload, intentionally preventing ordinary voters from separating critical facts from propaganda and denying them the objective reality required to make informed political decisions.
