Sex, drugs, and no rock ‘n’ roll

The government has started the Serbia creates campaign. Meaning – they took millions from the healthcare system and put them into self-advertising. Or, in pure Serbian: they redirected money from healthcare into their own promotion.

It’s a good thing they didn’t redirect it into flagpoles. They could’ve easily done that. If they can pave over tree while replacing actual pavement with cobbles, cut down parks while irrigating streets, planting flag poles instead of providing medicine to people affected by multiple sclerosis is surely not that big of a leap.

For this government is not afraid of criminal charges. Not only are they not afraid, but are ready to raise them against themselves if no one else will. Because only in court will the president of Serbia be able to prove that he and his brother are innocent in the Jovanjica affair (I wonder what happened to the famous polygraph?). And because he has nothing on his side “except the truth and the people” (apart from the entire state apparatus and the polygraph).

It’s a shame that the polygraph is out of the game. We could really use it now to find out who’s being truthful: the minister of police who claims that the president’s brother hasn’t heard from the arrested businessman in six months (how does he know this, are they listening to the president’s brother’s phonecalls?) or the president who claims that his brother hasn’t even met said businessman. At least for the president’s claim that we won’t see any evidence we can rest assured that we won’t need a polygraph. We already saw that we didn’t see the footage from the Doljevac tollbooth either. 

I’m only surprised that the president failed to use his strongest arguments, which have always passed in the court of public opinion. His famous: so what? (when his father, brother or anyone else was caught doing something illegal) or his: show me where the crime is, will now have to wait their turn in a real courtroom. Assuming, of course, that the criminal charges filed on behalf of the president by his party colleague, the mayor of Novi Sad, are accepted. And the mayor would never file a false charge, especially now when the intended buyer of Megatrend is accused of doing the same thing. The mayor would never engage in criminal activity like, for example, the father of the Minister of police who, as an economist, provided legal services to the incriminated GIM.

Never say never. This government is ready for anything. They’ve even adopted a lex specialis declaring the highway and metro as urgent priorities not subject to tender procedures (it is unclear how infrastructure projects can suddenly become urgent – did the minister just wake up one morning and suddenly remember that she urgently needs two highways?)

They are ready for anything, except introducing pay grades. And it’s been like that for eight years. So, that task will be postponed for year nine. Unless they decide that, once again, it’s not a good idea to upset their voters.

I really must admit that the government has chosen the right slogan. Serbia creates. It creates discomfort, misfortune, anger, chaos, hopelessness, violence, hate. And that is not something we should advertise.

Translated by Marijana Simic

Peščanik.net, 14.12.2109.