Good morning! In his parliamentary speech, Andrija Mandic gave a name to his policy. He declared New Serbian Democracy (NSD) and himself as the torchbearers of a new policy, which has the same goals as always, only they are to be achieved through different means. What exactly does this mean?
New Serbian politics for a new era
The warmonger Maric is on vacation in Budva. He has not been banned from entering. He is welcome on Dusko Knezevic’s television, where he continues to spew his propaganda. There, he praised Andrija Mandic as a political genius and a future prime minister, which means Mandic still has devotees at the top of the regime in Serbia.
Meanwhile, we are being served a narrative here that he is at daggers drawn with Vucic. Vucic calls him out, but in such a way that he never mentions his name. Pipun doesn’t dare attack him. Mandic allegedly refuses to go to Belgrade. It all looks like a staged conflict for the Western audience.
Or maybe it isn’t.
Who cares, actually. What is this new thing that Mandic is offering to us non-Serbs? Reconciliation? Through the constant stoking of identity tensions? With a crew like Vranes and Marko Kovacevic? With Slaven Radunovic, who has some serious matters hanging over his head?
On the outside, Andrija has polished himself up. He hugs Camaj and proclaims a Serb-Albanian brotherhood over Montenegro’s back. He has climbed onto Dodik’s lobbying train and is trying to launch himself as a world statesman, though for that he will still have to wait for this prime minister’s chair that has been foretold for him.
What is this new policy of Andrija Mandic’s, which, as he said, does not change the goals, but changes the methods? Is the method keeping power at all costs? Why did he mention the year 1998 as the beginning of a losing streak that he is now supposed to break?
Is that the moment when Montenegro distanced itself from Serbia? What does Mandic want to achieve? What are the goals of his policy? The re-Serbianisation of Montenegro through symbolism and identity? What is the end game of all these moves?
Is he just trying to use the speech to cover up a naked desire for power and the fact that their backsides are glued to their armchairs?
Because while Mandic successfully brands himself as a European and a frontrunner of European integration, inside Montenegro he is doing everything to turn inter-ethnic harmony upside down. Milan Knezevic has been pacified for now and will not be the leverage people expected. And that could be recognised because people know that NSD is a serious party machine, while Pipun is a headless fly. Even that little talent he had for public speaking has evaporated.
Mandic is here to stay. A major blow for him would be if one of his associates ended up in prison, and one candidate is seriously racing to become a pre-election blow to NSD. People are talking about how corruption is flourishing in his department, and that the DPS era was golden compared to what NSD is doing.
That is all for today.
Kind regards,
Ljubomir Filipovic
(Columnists’ opinions and views do not necessarily reflect those of the CdM editorial board)
