Organizing protests, due to the results of the presidential elections, will not make sense without the support of the international factor and if the evidence for manipulations is not clear, according to the organizer of the opposition demonstrations in Serbia, Vesna Pešić.
She said that she believes that the presidential elections were regular and that there was no theft.
"If there is no clear evidence that there was election theft, and the support of an international factor, the protests have no meaning and if they are organized in such a situation, they will quickly stop," Pešić told the Mina agency.
She assessed that the protests would not have an effect under such circumstances.
Pešić reminded that the opposition in Serbia protested in 1996, when, as she stated, there really was theft in the local elections.
"The Serbian opposition then had clear evidence that the elections were stolen. Only at the end of the protest, after three months, did the international delegation get involved, only because we had solid evidence of election theft," Pešić specified.
She added that the government admitted election theft by passing a special law, when the opposition was recognized as a winner in some cities.
"I don't believe that now, after so many years, someone dared to steal in the elections. It would be best to convincingly show that there was no theft in the elections. If there is no theft in the elections, why would anyone protest," said Pešić.
She believes that the problem after the election was caused by a small difference in votes.
"The opposition was encouraged to suspect that it was due to irregularities, but it must be clearly demonstrated that there were no such irregularities and that is the only correct way," Pešić stated.
Stojiljković: The international community will not seriously interfere
Professor Zoran Stojiljković believes that objections to the election result make sense if the electorate of those who complain is mobilized, and if those assessments of irregularities are based on clear arguments and what attitude is received from the international community.
Possible protests cannot count on more support and will be strong only if there is a convincing argument that it is a serious violation of the electoral will, says Stojiljković.
"The strength of the opposition's arguments depends on how much public opinion and the media will be mobilized, so that it can be a trigger that can lead to the destabilization of the situation in Montenegro," he said.
Stojiljković said that it must be shown whether the narrow difference in the elections is the result of the boycott of the Social Democratic Party.
"And if serious research says that there was no drop in voter turnout in the elections and that the opposition's remarks are appropriate, then that is a completely different matter," he explained.
Stojiljković believes that the international community will not seriously interfere in the current situation, because, as he added, it is a matter of internal power relations and state of mind in Montenegro.
According to him, possible protests cannot count on more support and will be strong only if there is a convincing argument that it is a serious violation of the electoral will.
"Clear evidence would be to show that there were manipulations during the voting, if the turnout is at the level of the last presidential election, but if there is no such evidence, then the protests will not have significant reach," concluded Stojiljković.
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