| Voter apathy is the main opponent of Dragoljub Micunovic Serbia will elect a president this coming Sunday. The biggest chance to win is with the Chairman of the Parliament of Serbia and Montenegro, the leader of the not very influential Democratic Union party, Dragoljub Micunovic. He will probably outplay his opponents - nationalist Tomislav Nikolic (Serbian Unity Party) and populist Velimir Ilic (New Serbia Party). Three other little-known candidates together will not receive even 2% of the vote.
However, the main rival of 73-year-old Belgrade professor Mičunović is civic apathy. Its first reason is the fatigue of citizens from endless political troubles. The second is a split in the democratic bloc of DOS, which once “overthrew” the regime of Slobodan Milosevic; this split turned into a protracted crisis in parliament, where the issue of a vote of confidence in the cabinet of ministers was discussed for several weeks. Ultimately, on November 13, the Serbian government decided to dissolve the Assembly and hold early parliamentary elections. They will take place after the presidential elections, probably in December.
The third reason why many in Belgrade are skeptical about the prospects for Sunday's voting is a boycott by several parties at once, which could "delay" up to a third of voters. And finally, after the arrest of Milosevic and the murder of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, there was a shortage of influential actors on the local political scene, which, by the way, does not include Micunovic.
The gray-haired candidate of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia bloc, Mičunović, known by his nickname Micun, is a politician who is moderate in all respects: moderately patriotic, moderately democrat, moderately reformist. He is a worthy gentleman who suffered under the communist regime and fought against the authoritarianism of Milosevic. But even Michunovic’s main motto emanates ordinariness: “A serious statesman. Our president.” Maybe this is just the kind of president Serbia needs: moderate in everything and without any noticeable political weight of his own? But is he able to cure such problems as relations with Montenegro, the situation in Kosovo, social transformations, and reform of the political system?
The post of President of Serbia became vacant a year and a half ago, after the expiration of the powers of the former head of the republic, Milan Milutinovic (he is now being tried along with Milosevic at the International Tribunal in The Hague on charges of committing war crimes). The last head of Yugoslavia, Vojislav Kostunica, tried to sit in the empty chair, but his recent allies in the democratic bloc organized a boycott of the elections - and Kostunica remained just the president of his political party. One of the most advanced pro-Western democrats, economist Miroljub Labus, also intended to become the new Serbian leader, but he also failed. As a result, twice, in September and December last year, presidential elections failed due to low voter turnout.
For the first round of elections to be declared valid, more than half of the voters must take part in it. And if this time there is no quorum, then the speaker of the republican parliament, Natasha Micic, will remain the “technical head of state.” Andrey STAKHOV |
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