Vucic Announces Novi Sad Rally, Eyes 400,000-Vote Margin

Aleksandar Vucic, who heads the “Aleksandar Vucic - United Serbia” list, announced on Monday, October 5, during a campaign tour of Vojvodina, a rally on the central square in Novi Sad that he claims will be bigger than the one in the Belgrade Arena. He gave no date for the rally. The same day, in conversations with residents, he also set a goal for the October 25 election: a margin of 400,000 to 500,000 votes over his opponents.

In brief

• Vucic visited Banostor near Beocin, Petrovaradin, Sremski Karlovci, Backo Gradiste, Srbobran and Vrbas.
• He announced the biggest rally yet in Novi Sad, without a date.
• He expects to win by 400,000 to 500,000 votes, and predicts losses abroad in London and Ottawa.
• On water supply he mentioned 15 billion, and for the road through Banostor a deadline of March or April.

What did Vucic announce for Novi Sad?

He made the announcement while addressing the crowd, and the sources do not say exactly where he spoke. According to Novosti, he said:

“Soon we will organize the biggest rally on the central city square in Novi Sad, bigger than in the Arena. Let me see how Pogacar will stop me. I invite Pogacar and Brkovic to stop me. We are going to beat them both in Novi Sad and in Serbia.”

The sources do not explain who exactly the names he mentioned refer to. According to Novosti, the same speech also contained an attack on the opposing list: Vucic claimed his opponents are hiding their candidate for prime minister, Soskic, that they are pursuing “Canak’s politics,” and that they are led by Bojan Pajtic. At the same time, he told the crowd not to say ugly things about Pajtic.

“It is better that we talk about his policies, about what he stands for. Whether he does this or that in private is his own business, as long as he does not break the law. When he breaks the law, that is a different matter. But the other thing, which is much more important, that criminal policy of destroying Serbia, that is what worries me.”

The sources we reviewed carry no response from the opposing list to these claims. In the same address, Vucic challenged Srdanovic to a televised debate, asking why he “does not dare to debate me.”

How many votes does he expect to win by, and where does he count on winning?

Vucic repeated the same goal several times. According to sd.rs, he said:

“I want us to beat them convincingly, by 400,000 to 500,000 votes.”

Accused by the “plenum” of trying to steal the election by shifting the opening of polling stations in the diaspora, he replied that the time is not being moved in Europe but for America, New Zealand and Australia, and that in Germany voting stays at the same time as in Serbia. According to Novosti, he also said:

“And if their margin is going to be 2,000 to 3,000 votes, then let them win right away. I am counting on a margin of 400,000 to 500,000, not 2,000 votes. Spare me the nonsense. They know they are losing, so they have to show nervousness. We opened polling stations in the most places so far, over 100,000 have registered, last time it was 30,000 to 40,000. We will lose in London, Ottawa and places like that, but Skopje, Podgorica, Banja Luka, Bijeljina, Rijeka, all of that we win convincingly.”

Asked about Zdravko Ponos’s statement that the regime is increasing pressure on citizens, Vucic answered that there is no pressure because voting is free, and then added: “If nothing else, Ponos had the courage to stay in the race.” He described his satisfaction with the campaign by saying that serious and responsible people are never satisfied.

What did he promise people in Vojvodina?

He devoted the most words to water. In Backo Gradiste he asked residents whether it was their biggest problem, and then said:

“We have a water problem in all of Vojvodina and in 80 percent of central Serbia. It is getting worse and worse now, because wells are drying up. Alongside hospitals and health centers, water supply will be a priority. I talked about that in the Arena too, and we will need 15 billion for it.”

The currency is not clear from all sources: Alo states in its report that the amount is in euros, while the quote published by Novosti does not mention a currency. The figure refers to water supply in general, not to a single waterworks. Vucic mentioned the main water pipeline separately, in Sremski Karlovci, with considerably smaller amounts: five to six million for Karlovci and a million and a half for the main pipeline, also with no currency in the report.

Residents of Backo Gradiste asked for a laboratory and a dentist, and Vucic replied: “It is my fault, I did not listen to you carefully enough.” According to Alo, he added that this would be resolved systematically by March.

In Sremski Karlovci he promised work on the elementary school, but with no binding deadline: “just do not hold me to my word on whether it will be in six months or a year.” Near Banostor he spoke about the road from the direction of Susek, 26 kilometers long, and the section toward Svilos, saying it should be finished “by March or April.” He said himself that the last time he was in Banostor was in 1994 or 1995. In Petrovaradin he mentioned the fourth Novi Sad bridge, and alongside it a signed contract for a new bridge at Backa Palanka.

To farmers on a farm with robotic milking, he said the state covers half the price of a machine: “Whichever machine you want to get, you can get 50 percent of the money from us.” B92 identifies the family as Muzlai and reports that they produce 11,000 liters of milk a day and that Vucic had also visited them 12 years ago. Alo also mentions the Vukajlovic household with eight children.

In Srbobran he visited the Maksimovic family, who had triplets after in vitro fertilization, and spoke about the birth rate in Serbia. According to Alo, he said Serbia is at about 1.68, while about 2.1 is needed for simple replacement.

In what order did the tour go?

The sources give the order differently, and a schedule by location was not published. Alo names Banostor in the Beocin municipality as the first stop, then Petrovaradin and Sremski Karlovci, then Vrbas and Srbobran. B92 records the address in Srbobran at 2:47 p.m. and the arrival in Vrbas at 3:53 p.m. According to Novosti, the crowd in Beocin greeted him with shouts of “Aco, Serb,” and he told them he would not give up: “When it is hardest, I will fight even harder.”

In Srbobran, Vucic also said that in the 16 to 17 days left until the pre-election silence there will be “all sorts of things” to hear, and that, if his mind serves him, he will win. Alo also carries his statement about outside influence: “I would rather not be here at all, rather be in prison than have foreigners cut our cloth for us. As long as I live, I will not accept that.”