Angry Rant

Congratulations to Novak! He deserves this victory. It’s a shame he will soon probably have to become British or Monacoise to avoid sport sanctions. Good news about Serbia rarely come from within. Another of Serbia’s heroes from last year, the Eurovision Song Contest winner, despite her background and obvious inclinations, started to actively and enthusiastically support the radical presidential candidate. I’m not saying that she should have given her support to that sloth of a president of ours but she could have at least kept her mouth shut (when she’s not singing, that is). And on one of the Serbian poor quality roads which according to promises and plans should have by now probably been a 6 lane freeway a dog died in vain, as the interior minister lives to do more damage. His boss, the prime minister, has today successfully averted the danger of moving a step closer to the EU. He has valiantly chosen between keeping Kosovo and joining the European Union in the name of all of us. Pity that the first isn’t actually ours to keep and the latter doesn’t want us anyway. Simultaneously he has managed to give away control over some of the greatest assets of this country to possibly the only more corrupt system that his. Hey, as long as we’re all shareholders… In the meantime, I am bitting my rich shareholder lips as my misplaced sense of conscience is forcing me to go and vote for the man who has by doing nothing and allowing all of this to happen undermined any hopes of true democracy in Serbia. In my dream boris tadic tells kostunica to fuck off, live on national television 10 minutes before the electoral silence begins. But that’s not going to happen. I’m just wondering if it’s because he really is THAT stupid or because he’s as bad as everyone else. So I guess, I’m gonna vote after all. I’m such an optimist.

I’ve been up till four working on a paper. It’s a gorgeous sunny day in New York City. I’m off to sleep now.

Election Circles of Hell

One down, one to go. Or is there? Is there any sense in prolonging the agony or is it the right time for euthanasia? How long can we postpone the inevitable? I left Serbia, temporarily for now, but with every intention of making it permanent. Maybe it’s time to let it fend for itself. My candidate ended up 5^th. So we come to the delicate question: When is it time to stop compromising? To vote or not?

Now, I like Boris just fine. I remember him when he was just a psychology teacher. He was fun, and nice. I think, as a person, his set of values is in the right place. But we’re not voting for Boris anymore, are we? We’re voting for his policies, and his policies weakened his party and pushed it into a subordinate position in which they are bullied by kostunica into accepting whatever shallow pro-Russian, primitively Orthodox and uncritically traditional course for the country he has envisioned. If Boris gets backing from kostunica, it would clearly be blackmail again, another concession that civilized Serbia would have to make in order to avoid having a radical president. But is it worth it? Sure, the slow trickling of reform will continue, but the country will only sink deeper into lethargy. Should Boris be rewarded for his lack of courage and vision?

On the other hand, nothing but coming to power can stop the growth of the radicals. And let’s be honest, it will happen sooner or later. If nikolic is president, I’m sure it wouldn’t be long before we have a radical government. So what would that mean? In the short run, to be mild, nothing good. But it could get kostunica out of the picture forever. It could undermine the very existence of dss as their supporters would finally have to decide between DS and the radicals. It could liberate DS from their dss masters.It could strengthen LDP. And finally in power, the radicals would have the chance to show their incompetence and break all the impossible promises they have been free to make all these years. Preident Nikolic could be the one to finally, officially and unquestionably loose Kosovo.

So the question remains. Which of the two options that torture my conscience should I choose. To vote for a Kostunica-dominated status quo, or to stay firm, and for the first time ever not vote and let things take their course, even if it means a despicable victory for the radicals. Well, the next two weeks will show. Let’s see who supports whom, and who has what to say. Any ideas?

Breaking the Silence?

The polling station(s) have closed. My civic duty done, I can now freely speak of the by-gone election without breaking the silence. At least in the States. Except in LA where there is still another hour to go. And most other counties where Serbian citizens can vote. And off course Serbia itself. Anyway, who cares…

New York was in an election mood. The top of the Empire State glowing in red, white and blue, the coulors of the Serbian flag. The Times Square subway station was unusually deserted so I concluded everyone must be voting or at least watching news of the elections on their TV sets. We made our way past the Nikola Tesla Corner on 6^th Avenue and came to the consulate building where a sign in Cyrillic letters said Polling Station No. 3 – Njujork. In the ballot box, almost as many pieces of paper as employees of the consulate.

Examined by ultraviolet lights and sprayed against repeated voting (in case we decide to commit trans-Atlantic electoral fraud), we cast our votes, in the Olympic spirit of taking part and not winning. Just to see the balance of power. Now we have to wait for the result of our vote, a little longer than the rest of the electorate. I’m afraid I see some radical changes ahead.