NGO OR SECRET POLITICAL PARTY? Citizens’ Initiatives pretend to be civil society, but behave like an opposition HQ!
While presenting themselves to the public as a non-governmental organisation (formally registered as a citizens’ association), Citizens’ Initiatives (CI) are increasingly acting as a political actor, without elections, without political or legal accountability for their activities and, most controversially, with money from foreign donors in their pockets.
An analysis of official posts on the Citizens’ Initiatives website reveals a pattern that has nothing to do with the work of civil society, and contains all the elements of political agitation, propaganda and direct political action.
Propaganda
The true nature of this non-governmental organisation’s activities is vividly illustrated by even a cursory glance at the news that CI themselves publish on their official website.
And there, regular content consists of headlines such as: “The government does not want dialogue”; “The President longs for violence on 15 March”; “Serbia resembles the nineties”; “The government avoids elections”; “Government repression as a reflection of powerlessness”; “The President’s call for the lynching of Veran Matić”; “The Gendarmerie must urgently stop attacking protesting citizens”; “Maja Stojanović on the police raid on CI: This is yet another crackdown on those who do not think the same”; “The government is responsible for hate speech in society”; “Serbia is beginning to resemble Russia and Belarus, the goal is to silence people”; “The government exerts unacceptable pressure on the process of electing the new REM Council”; “Serbia will for the first time have to officially answer about sonic weapons – this is a turning point”...
It is clear to everyone that these are not analyses, not projects, not research – these are pure examples of political agitation, the expression of political positions, value judgements and messages that can be heard daily in opposition media and at protests.
Citizens’ Initiatives are not registered as a political organisation, do not have a programme filed with the Republic Electoral Commission, do not participate in elections and bear no political responsibility whatsoever.
And yet, CI regularly comment on elections, tell citizens how to vote, accuse the President of the state, declare institutions illegitimate, delegitimise courts, the police and the prosecution, relativise the obligation to apply the law, and openly take sides in a political conflict. If that is not politics and political action – what is?
Foreign money and political messages
When it comes to the obligations governing the activity of political actors in Serbia, the law is more than clear: financing political activity from foreign sources is strictly prohibited.
That is precisely why there are laws on political parties, campaigns and the financing of political activity.
Citizens’ Initiatives, claim those familiar with the matter, have found a perfidious loophole in the system: they do not register as a political actor, formally remain an NGO, but act politically with full force, and all of this with money from foreign foundations! According to legal experts, this represents a fundamental circumvention of the law, because form cannot annul substance.
Unlike political parties, Citizens’ Initiatives do not answer to voters, do not run in elections, do not bear responsibility for the consequences of their messages, nor are they accountable if they incite tensions or destabilisation. And yet they influence public opinion, fuel conflicts, delegitimise the state and directly affect political processes and developments in the country.
In addition to circumventing the law in terms of legal form and financing, Citizens’ Initiatives appear in the political field exclusively as critics and generators of citizens’ dissatisfaction. As a non-governmental organisation, they have no obligation to formulate a political programme, to offer solutions, nor to declare themselves on difficult political issues. They have assigned themselves the comfortable position of speaking only about problems, while shifting responsibility for finding solutions onto others.
The key question that Citizens’ Initiatives persistently avoid is: are you a non-governmental organisation or a political movement.
Because it cannot be both. One cannot pretend neutrality while waging a political war against institutions. One cannot take foreign money and play an active role in domestic politics. One cannot criticise the system while being outside any system of control and accountability. If they wish to be a political actor – let them register, run in elections, measure their political weight and assume responsibility. Everything else resembles political activity covered by the veil of an NGO, without citizens’ consent, without genuine legitimacy and outside the law.
Kurir Politics