The opposition is ready for a new dialogue on the elections, but only with the mediation of the EU

There is a provision, but also a need for a new dialogue between the opposition and the authorities on electoral conditions, according to the Open Society Foundation. Opposition leaders say for now that they are ready for talks, but only with the mediation of the European Union.

The dialogue ended last summer before starting. A large number of opposition parties decided in September to boycott the elections.

Milan Antonijevic of the Foundation for Open Society believes that now can be started in time so that the electoral laws are not changed in the election year.

“Now we are putting on the table the basic electoral legislation and everything that was not resolved last time, here we are talking about the media, the REM, the pressure on voters and everything that could really be valued as extremely harmful. for the electoral process and prevents citizens in a way from expressing their civic will, ”says Antonijević.

Opposition leaders are not thinking about that dialogue for now. President of the Popular Party Vuk Jeremic says that the commitment of the European parliamentarians is the result of two years of work, mainly from the Alliance for Serbia.

“I believe that without the European mediation between the government and the opposition, and the mediation on how to get out of this deep crisis, that will not be possible. I hope that the commitment of the European Parliament starts as soon as possible, and I hope that the elections will not take place “. boycotted by a large number of political actors and, more importantly, by the citizens of Serbia, “said Jeremic.

The leader of the Democratic Party, Zoran Lutovac, believes that the experience of neighboring countries – North Macedonia and Montenegro – shows that the mediation of the European Union is of crucial importance to implement changes that move things in the right direction.

“The conversations in which we have already participated were not aimed at improving electoral conditions, which was supposedly their objective, but mainly to create the idea that there is a dialogue,” recalls Lutovac.

Last year, opposition leaders sought the help of European parliamentarians. President of the Free Citizens Movement Sergej Trifunović now considers that it may not make sense to talk about what the Constitution guarantees..

“I’m always there for every conversation, the question is, we’ll see, because everything changes from second to second. We’ll see when the time comes for that, but for a conversation – yes, always – if there is any benefit from the conversation. idiotic situation where you negotiate about the rights that belong to you ‘by default’, that is already humiliating ”, thinks Trifunović.

European MPs have already decided to continue talks with everyone in Serbia, considering that 50 percent of the people did not vote in parliamentary elections, according to the Open Society Foundation.