If Slobodan Milosevic is to make a comeback in this weekend’s parliamentary elections, he’s got to do it against, among others, Otpor, the student group that brought him down. Otpor was the driving force, it turns out, behind the Yugoslav revolution. A group of students committed to non- violence, Otpor plastered the country with stickers saying, “He’s finished”, created a hip message, and spread resistance to the provinces, where Milosevic was strongest.
Otpor isn’t actually fielding candidates in Saturday’s elections, instead it’s organizing a massive get out the vote campaign to finish the job begun in October. Milosevic’s Socialist party still controls the parliament and many of the top jobs in Serbia.
The opposition, led by President Kostunica, hopes to consolidate their grip on power by returning a majority to parliament and kicking Milosevic into the dustbin of history. The Serbian elections and the student movement is this hour on the Connection.
(Hosted by Christopher Lydon)
Guests:
Roger Cohen, Berlin bureau chief of the New York Times and author of “Hearts Grown Brutal: Sagas of Sarajevo”
Paul McCarthy, an official with the National Endowment for Democracy
Milia Jovanic, founding member of Otpor