Fight for leadership breaks out in marginal Serbian opposition

The leader of the opposition radical Serbian party "Dveri" Boško Obradović declared himself "a new opposition leader who is now being born and will continue to lead the state."

This is stated in the memo that he sent to the functionaries of his party. A facsimile of the official email appeared on Twitter.

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Obradovic asks his followers to support him as much as possible on social networks.

“I think that last night’s speech (in the hall of the House of Trade Unions - ed.) has enormous potential, and my appearance as a guest on the TV program “Impressions of the Week” is of historical significance for a new stage in my formation as an opposition leader. The birth of a new opposition leader will be painful for many and the resistance will be great, but this process began last night,” Obradovic wrote.

It is noteworthy that his coalition partners, Dragan Djilas and Vuk Jeremic, did not react in any way.

Vice-President of the Serbian Progressive Party Milenko Jovanov believes that it is obvious that there is a war for leadership in the opposition.

“It is obvious that the only real struggle that takes place within the opposition is the struggle for dominance. Boshko intends to get ahead of Djilas and Jeremic and therefore gives such instructions to his members. It is important for citizens to see what the boycott of elections that they are announcing serves,” notes Yovanov.

Djilas and Boshko

Analyst Branko Radun recalls that until now Obradovic had no real power.

“These battles in the “Union for Serbia” are logical. Everyone here has their own ideas, interests and goals, and each of them: Obradovic, Djilas and Jeremic, hopes to lead. Djilas has assigned himself this status because he has experience and money. Boshko, who is very aggressive and active among young voters, is still in his shadow. The only question is when these competitive relationships will manifest themselves. Djilas and Jeremic have dark stories behind them from the times when they held government positions, and Obradovic sees his chance in the fact that he was not in power, so he appears as a new face,” Radun noted.

However, in order for Obradovic to “make a revolution,” the analyst believes, large masses of people, a lot of weapons and at least one large political force behind him will be required.

In reality, even the united opposition does not have support, not to mention individual parties. As the latest opinion poll shows, the ruling Serbian Progressive Party maintained a convincing advantage in January and enjoys the support of 53,6% of citizens, while the rating of the Union for Serbia has decreased compared to December. Only 10,3% of voters are ready to vote for him, according to a study by FactorPlus.

Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic's Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) is in third place with 9,5% support.

The “1 in 5 Million” movement, which recently decided to abandon the boycott and go to the polls, does not yet have significant support among the electorate.

“Currently they do not have a significant foothold in the electorate because they are not perceived as a party,” says FactorPlus director Vladimir Pejic.

In general, observers believe that the decision of opposition parties to boycott the upcoming parliamentary elections is intended to hide their really low electoral support.