UNMIK on Air

October 10^th 2003

OTPOR

(By Valon A. Syla)

Belgrade, October 5^th 2003 - three years after the ouster of Slobodan Milosevic. Thousands of people, young and old, out on the streets in response to a call from the student cum peoples’ movement OTPOR, a key force that freed Serbia from Milosevic.

October 5 has become a date to remember, a date to evaluate the progress or lack of it since the day Serbia seemed poised to take a different course. 3 years on, OTPOR is out on the streets again, albeit under different circumstances and with a different aim.

Hello and welcome to UNMIK on AIR with Sputnik Kilambi and Martin Redi

3 years ago, the arrest and harassment of OTPOR activists had become almost commonplace – this was at the height of sit in actions and other gestures of protest organized by OTPOR whose rallying cry to the people was “He’s finished”.

Milosevic may be finished, but the task that began the day he fell is far from over according to OTPOR. There may be new rulers in Belgrade today, they say, but there are plenty of reasons to be dissatisfied with the state of the country today. And compelling reasons for the continued existence of OTPOR. 3 years on, the peoples’ movement is set to become a political party.

Ivan Marovic, a prominent OTPOR activist, thinks Serbia has frittered away its potential during these past three years.

Ivan Marovic: When Milosevic fell three years ago, on October 5^th, we had a big chance to change something here, a chance that we didn’t have before in our history. We had a kind of “peoples’ energy”. People were ready to suffer a bit to achieve something. The international community was ready to help the reforms. We had the best possible circumstances

Over the past 3 years, OTPOR has functioned like an NGO, focusing primarily on actions aimed at highlighting rampant corruption in Serbia. They were also very active in uncovering fraud – mostly involving people who had switched loyalties from the previous regime to the new government.

The biggest change, adds Marovic is the fact that this Government will lose the elections, but not on the streets.

Ivan Marovic: ruling elite didn’t understand why they are in power. They came to change the system. They abused their power to consolidate their own positions. That’s why they quarreled among themselves. The citizens didn’t expect that. They expected them to make some reforms within the institutions and to break all connections with the former regime. That didn’t happen and that’s why they are going to face the consequences at the elections.

Although OTPOR stayed very active, they admit that their impact was not a big one. They succeeded in pointing out certain issues, but as they say, political engagement in Serbia is still the only way to make an impact on society. The Government doesn’t listen to civil society, says Marovic.

Ivan Marovic: If civil society gives any kind of suggestion, the first reaction of this Government and prominent politicians would be to say, it’s a great idea but they do nothing. For example take a look at the commission against corruption. It is a government institution but its members are independent civil activists. They as a Government institution gave the Government plenty of suggestions how to fight corruption. But not one suggestion was accepted. That’s the part of the civil society that became a part of the Government. They haven’t been listened to. Just imagine what’s the attitude towards the real civil society.

Indications are OTPOR will soon become a political party. And is likely to take a very active role at the next elections. Ivan Malek, another OTPOR activist, says that their target is to bring together those disappointed with the current pro democratic government.

Ivan Malek: We had a problem when we wanted to exert some kind of civil control over Government. In the past three years OTPOR tried to be a kind of corrector to the Government in a way. We were trying to find a model to fulfill that function. After three years of thinking we realized that there is a need for a new power in this society, that there is a need for OTPOR, an organization that hasn’t been directly involved in politics, to become a political party. The idea is to try to be a generator that brings people together, like we did three years ago.

There are many in Belgrade who think Serbia has too many political parties and that there is no space for a new one. Ivan Malek opposes that idea.

Ivan Malek: We realized that a number of people don’t want to be politically engaged because they don’t see an organization or a party for that. Because both sides, the opposition and the position had an opportunity to change something. That is our idea, to gather people who haven’t been engaged politically, to try to engage people that supported changes in this country for 12 years but didn’t commit themselves because they didn’t trust anyone, or because they felt their trust was betrayed.

OTPOR is now waiting for the best possible moment to enter the political scene in Serbia. Their aim, they say, is to function in a truly democratic way. The outcome is yet to be seen, but it’s more than obvious that OTPOR will have to exchange whistles for draft laws, sports shoes and Vietnam jackets for nice suits and fancy footwear.

More importantly though is the question whether OTPOR will become another example of the children of a revolution that end up being consumed by the revolution.

That brings us to the end of this edition of UNMIK ON AIR. Thanks for listening.