Ten days after being invited to do so by students, citizens have started organizing assemblies. By exercising their own sovereignty, they have decided to implement a model of direct democracy in cities across Serbia. N1 reporter, Tamara Stojanovic, looked into how the government and experts view this development.

„Civilized and loud, please!“

Civilized and loud discussions took place today at an assembly in front of the Stari Grad municipal building, moderated by students.

Gathered citizens and activists were learning the basics of direct democracy.

„We do this when we agree with the speaker, and this when we don’t…“

Those assembled at the meeting agreed that Stari Grad municipality faces numerous issues and that, as the bearers of sovereignty, they must be involved in solving them.

„I joined the assembly because I live in this municipality and I am appalled at what it has become. They are turning it into a stinking hole.“

„I hope that the energy among the people continues to build.“

„These assemblies and other actions, where we will closely follow what these good young people are doing, will contribute to normalizing society,“ said actor Tihomir Stanic.

Sociologist Dalibor Petrovic believes that these assemblies will help bring citizens out of political abstinence and back into civic life, from which they have been excluded for years.

„This shows that citizens do not trust institutions and understand that they themselves have the power to rebuild both institutions and society,“ said Petrovic.

That was evident in Stari Grad. On the agenda in front of the municipal building were issues that the majority representatives in the assembly refused to include in the official session inside.

„Unfortunately, this was expected. And it will, of course, have consequences.“

„We’re going in!“

„No, we won’t go inside. We will make decisions at the assembly that follows.“

At the assembly that followed, everyone had the opportunity to speak, in line with the principles of direct democracy. Those with months of experience offered advice.

„As a student and someone who has been part of plenums for months, I just ask for a little patience—this is our first assembly, we are on the streets, and it will get easier,“ said a student.

To make things easier for those who wish to organize their own assemblies, students from the Faculty of Organizational Sciences (FON) have published a Handbook for Assembly Organization.

However, Minister Jelena Zaric Kovacevic stated that these gatherings often turn into open terror against institutions, violence, and hatred.

„A citizens’ assembly cannot make any decisions, least of all binding ones,“ the minister declared.

Nonetheless, over the past few days, citizens have been making decisions at assemblies held across Serbia—in Cacak, Novi Sad, Obrenovac, Vlasotince, Nis, Vracar, and Zemun.

A paradox, as one interviewee told N1, is that their decisions—proposals and solutions—must ultimately be submitted to local institutions they do not trust. How this paradox will be resolved remains uncertain.

„That is why I see these assemblies more as a symbolic form of citizen mobilization,“ said Petrovic.