Serbia: the students’ plan – to restore democracy and then make way for the political parties

What result are you expecting on Sunday? The polls suggest a neck-and-neck race between the Students’ List and Vucic’s list.

I don’t like to rely on opinion polls; many people are afraid to say they’re voting for the students, so they tell pollsters they’ll be voting for Vučić. I put more faith in the impressions I’ve gathered whilst travelling around Serbia’s towns and villages during the election campaign: people have had enough. When there’s a student demonstration, you see people turning up of their own accord, but when it’s Vucic’s Progressive Party organising the rally, you see a group of people who you can tell have been forced to attend. I know many public sector employees who are forced to attend rallies: even though they work for the government and their jobs depend on the ruling party, they are by no means happy about it, so I expect them to vote against the ruling party.

What will you do in government if you win the election?

Our programme is set out in full in the ‘Students’ Plan’. But the key issue is the fight against corruption. We also want to see competent people in the right roles, rather than people chosen by the ruling party who are unsuitable for the job.

Is it true that your aim is to remain in power for just one or two years, restore democracy in Serbia, and then hand over to the traditional party system?

The idea is to sort things out and then step aside. Our list comprises a very diverse group of people, with differing political views and ideologies. But I am convinced that we will manage to remain united long enough to lay the foundations for those who come after us. The real question, if anything, is how many of the old parties will manage to survive until the next general election. The question is: will there be anyone else to whom we can hand over the country?