BELGRADE: Serbia celebrated the 11th anniversary of the 5th of October 2000 Revolution this week. This was the day when the entire population of Serbia rose up to oppose the government of Slobodan Milosevic, who politically, culturally and economically had been dragging Serbia to the verge of chaos. It took a long while for the opposition to grow strong enough to oppose the ruling Socialist Party. The situation before the revolution was similar to the one Egyptians witnessed before they finally rose up to overthow their regime. As with any revolution, this one brought about the spirit of change and optimism. The demonstrations that overthrew Milosevic united the leaders of 18 opposition parties, several youth organizations, the most importance of which was Otpor. The number of people who took to the streets was massive, never before been seen in Belgrade. Today, 11 years after, many things have indeed changed: the progressive liberal Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić was assassinated, Serbia became an independent state, ended its federation with Montenegro, upon the EU requests it arrested all those accused of war crimes and eventually lost a part of its territory, which completed a circle and led Serbia to a new phase of regression. It seems to people that the revolution never took place and that little has changed. Moreover, the people are comparing 2011 with the period before the revolution and the desperation they were feeling back then. The disappointment in the political leadership has reched critical levels and the people now see no difference between those who organized the revolution back in 2000 and those it was organized against. This is obvious from the comments that the news on the anniversary recieved on b92.net website. The Serbian president, and one of the leaders of the Revolution Boris Tadić doesn't seem to agree. For him, democracy and democratic institutions that were founded in Serbia after the revolution are the greatest achievement of the 5th of October events. Unfortunately, Tadić fails to mention the most important grievances of Serbs today such as corruption, class differences in Serbian society, the lack of rule of law, rising nationalistic rhetoric, human rights violations, increasing poverty and unemployment, discontent and disappointment that the people feel in relation to those who they wholeheartedly supported 10 years earlier. Čedomir Jovanović, the leader of Serbian Liberal Democratic party, the only party that recognizes the need for Serbia to accept reality and recognize independence of Kosovo does not see much reason for optimism. He thinks that “political elites have banned Serbia from modernization because of their own narrow interests to maintain their positions and authority.” The Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), the leading opposition party has said in the news conference it held yesterday that the situation in Serbia today is even worse than the one before 2000. They see no progress in the development of the country and emphasize corruption as the single most important obstacle to a better future. Whatever the truth was, one thing is sure: Serbia's 5th of October revolution is no longer celebrated but merely remembered. BM
