Serbian Democratic Party (DS) President Srđan Milivojević has accused President Aleksandar Vučić of attempting to manipulate public opinion, claiming that at least twice as many people in Serbia support the student movement as support the president.
In a statement released on Thursday, Milivojević said Vučić was creating “an illusion of uncertainty” by portraying himself as an equal political rival to the student movement, despite what he described as declining public support for the ruling establishment.
“Vučić knows very well that at least twice as many people support the students as support him, despite propaganda and unprecedented pressure,” Milivojević said.
The opposition leader criticized Vučić’s recent call for student protesters to commit in advance to accepting the outcome of future elections, accusing the Serbian president of trying to mislead the public.
“By asking students to promise beforehand that they will congratulate the election winner even if they lose, Aleksandar Vučić is once again trying to deceive Serbian citizens,” Milivojević said.
He argued that Vučić was attempting to create a false equivalence between himself and the student movement, despite claiming that the government, “even with state resources, pressure, and blackmail,” is no longer capable of mobilizing crowds comparable to those gathered by students through social media.
Milivojević further claimed that the ruling authorities would be unable to use pre-election political engineering to weaken the opposition or alter what he described as a growing referendum-like political atmosphere in the country.
He also dismissed Serbia’s parliament as lacking democratic legitimacy, arguing that legislative proceedings no longer reflect genuine democratic debate.
“The choice facing Serbia is no longer between political parties, but between Serbia and the mafia,” Milivojević said, referring to the government in strongly critical terms.
The remarks come amid escalating political tensions in Serbia as opposition parties and the student movement continue to challenge the government ahead of anticipated parliamentary elections.
