By Andrej Nikolaidis, CdM columnist
Three left-of-center political parties will form the European Alliance.
That’s a good move. It offers the parties-constituents of the Alliance, instead of fighting for the electoral census, a new chance.
For all three parties – it is too late for individual rebranding. In this way, in synergy, the potential promise that the European Union will have all the virtues of the parties that form it, and none of their flaws, does not necessarily have to be unconvincing. That, after all, is the point of rebranding: to rid the product that people used to buy of everything that made them stop buying it. And persuade them to return to it. That is what they, and here’s the catch, actually want.
The space for the European Alliance (ES) exists, that is clear. ES is not without coalition capacity. And yet, for the European Alliance to succeed, it is necessary to fulfill several assumptions.
The first is: authenticity. In order for their criticism of the corruption and economic policies of the rulers to be convincing and effective, the three left-of-center parties, to begin with, really should be – left. They must convincingly distance themselves from the neoliberal and post-neoliberal policies that, while they were in power, they properly implemented, no matter how often they grumbled about them. Therefore, they must distance themselves from their old selves. They must promote progressive left politics, instead of what they did in the past: sing partisan songs while at the same time participating in a transitional social massacre in which the very ones who would have been shot by the 1945 partisans without a second thought profited.
The second assumption is: new people. Let me use the supermarket metaphor again. If the European Alliance is a new product, it stands a chance. If it’s a sales gimmick, when three products are wrapped together with insulating tape and sold for the price of one – no one will buy it.
And finally, possibly the most important. The leader. A new leader. People don’t vote for programmes. They vote for people. Those who have no nuts in their pockets. Those whose promises have not lost weight. Those who think fast and speak decisively. Those who are brave. The ones that the DF MPs will not slap the way they slapped the DPS MPs both in the Parliament and in Budva.
In addition, the leader must be young: because youth suggest a new beginning. But he/she must also have political experience. A young leader must not be a model. He/She has to be himself/herself.
There are such people in the European Alliance. We all know them: they are recognizable.
Anyway: I wish the European Alliance good luck. If you need anything: I’m here. Anyway, I’ll always tell you when you screw things up. Even if you don’t ask me.
(The opinions and views of the authors of the columns are not necessarily those of the CdM editorial staff)
