Even six weeks after the parliamentary elections Serbia has still not formed a new government. Depending on the standpoint, the state is as far or as close to it as it was on the morning of May 7. Call it the Serbian political paradox or Serbian political practice, whatever, but the collective calls of all political factors for the quick forming of the government, for the sake of national interest, has not yielded even the expected effects so far, let alone the desired ones. It seems that somebody was correct in assessing that the pre-election and post-election activities in Serbia will spend or as the cynics would say – waste, two thirds of the year.
Standing in the background of another collective objection that this political vacuum suits nobody are the shades of party goals, either short of long term ones, retail or whole sale trading – fully legitimate, although not very ethical daily political practice. There is a stream in the public opinions that things would have been different if the results of the second round of the presidential elections had been different, too. This way, both winners and losers are dumbfounded, and therefore not ready for the “changing” environment.
In that sense, the Progressive Party has given up on forming the government even before the second round, due to both objective circumstances and subjective weakness. In a way, this standstill suits them perfectly as a party, because they hold the only position of the authority – the presidential one. At the same time, they have transferred the ball to the neighboring field and watch calmly the difficulties in negotiations, which was an easy guess anyway. Following that line, they will either “come to aid” or not, depending on how much they anticipate it will be of use.
From another aspect, the Democrats hold the hot potato of being a pillar of the future government and they still have not drawn the line to which compromises, conditions and arrangements will stretch. Although last week they formulated, along with Socialists, the key principles of the new government, it seems as if all other partners only deal with desired, but not necessary conditions to join forces.
Maybe for the first time in the modern plural political history of Serbia, the issues of positions and competencies are not of decisive importance. The power is the goal of the political struggle, but in these conditions- not at any price. Not only because of the strategic interests and program aims, but for the sake of political “tomorrow”, which may dawn much sooner that envisaged by the duration of the term. Somehow, between the lines, the fear of being in power has crept into the political scene, as in the times of the difficult crisis it emphasizes the burden of consequences much more than perks and privileges.
By now the influence of foreign factors is mentioned openly, regarding the coalition possibilities in forming the government, so the situation is only growing more complex. Essentially, it is good to know the interests of powerful players in relation to our position, but it is necessary to keep in mind our own interest in those calculations. Also, whether any of the promises “advantages” will compensate for the already certain daily disadvantages of not having the government.