The secret of Vučić's pre-election testament

(6yka.com)

Ricky Gervais, one of the world's most famous and wealthy comedians, has chosen not to have children. In a stand-up routine, he explains how he turned that fact into the perfect family experiment.

At every big gathering, he takes a relative aside, lowers his voice, and tells them, "Listen, I'm not going to live forever. I've decided to leave the bulk of my assets to you. Just don't tell anyone."

Then promise the same to the second. Then to the third. Then to all of them in turn.

Everyone returns to the table convinced that they have been chosen. Suddenly Gervais's plate is always full, his chair is the most comfortable, and his jokes are hilarious. Everyone keeps the secret, not knowing that they carry the same will in their pockets. Of course, they will get nothing. Gervais has already left his fortune to charities. But with a fake will, he has secured the lifelong attention of the entire family.

Aleksandar Vučić turned that joke into a model for managing political relatives across the Drina River.

For months, the same message has been reaching the opposition in Republika Srpska, through a variety of emissaries, intermediaries, and people who always have “reliable information from Belgrade”: Dodik is finished. Vučić is done with him. This time, he’s counting on you. Just don’t tell anyone…

Each political relative would then return to the table a little more upright, convinced that he was Vučić's favorite nephew. Instead of making their own policies, they listened to Belgrade. Instead of agreeing on how to defeat Dodik, they tried to figure out who Vučić had chosen to succeed him.

And so, for months, candidacies were offered, withdrawn, and traded like commodities before the market closes. Branko Blanuša offered his to himself, then to Draško Stanivuković several times. Stanivuković waited almost until the deadline to decide whether he would be a candidate. Nebojša Vukanović went his own way.

The opposition looked like a family that quarreled over a rich uncle's apartment while the uncle was still alive, healthier than all of them, and had already transferred the apartment to Dodik. Vučić did not invent their vanities. He just measured them precisely and whispered to each one what he wanted to hear. He did not break the strong unity, because it clearly did not exist. He only pushed Belgrade's crowbar into the existing cracks. And thus he shattered the opposition's almost certain victory, without any dilemma.

And then these days the real will was opened. Not at a notary, but in front of the cameras. For three days Vučić and Dodik toured Bosnia and Herzegovina together. Rmanj, Drvar, Petrovačka cesta, Manjača, Šipovo, Bugojno, Jezero, Mrkonjić Grad. Monasteries, factories, speeches, lunches and joint photos. Pie under a metal roof, veal, lamb and stuffed peppers, brandy, lots of brandy... like true influencers.

At Manjača, Vučić recalled that fourteen years ago he had easily agreed with “President Dodik” to jointly celebrate important dates. Dodik replied that Serbia had never done more for Republika Srpska than during Vučić's time. They showered each other with compliments like hosts showering each other with full plates.

None of this diminishes the obligation to remember the victims of Operation Storm. It's just that the suffering of those unfortunate civilians deserves more than to be the backdrop to anyone's campaign tour. Because three days of joint tours, speeches, lunches and photos are not protocol. This is a campaign. Which both of them need more than ever at this moment, because both of them are at their lowest popularity ever. Vučić didn't have to say that he supports Dodik. He said it with the schedule. In three days, there was time for pie, lamb and stuffed peppers. There wasn't even half an hour for the opposition.

She can now say that Vučić deceived her. And she did. But when you have trusted whispers more than your own eyes for years, then it is no longer naivety. It is a personal decision to be deceived. If you need Vučić's permission to defeat Dodik, then you are not an alternative to Dodik. You are just another candidate for Vučić's governor in Republika Srpska.

Gervais' relatives will at least one day realize that they were part of a great joke. The opposition in Republika Srpska might realize that on election night, when the joke about them will no longer be funny to anyone. Vučić has never met with the opposition. He has not even had to receive it.

The opposition, once again, received... him.