Leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDS) and former president of Serbia Boris Tadić has not decided yet whether he will run for president again. If he opts to run, he will make use of his experience of winning as well as of making mistakes, as he pointed out in his interview with Kurir. This is because he acknowledges that there are things that he regrets as well as things he considers a success and which he would repeat.
Leaving the presidency in 2012, he said to everyone, "We'll meet again in a different story", but now he says that he has spent his whole life in the same political "story" – "the fight for a free, modern, and democratic Serbia."
You claim that that you have good ratings in the opinion polls, close to the top. When will you make the decision about running for president?
"In the current political circumstances in Serbia, ratings and numbers don't mean much and change very quickly, so I don't base what I do on them. What I especially wish to steer clear of is the trend of engaging in politics by advertising numbers, with politicians trying to convince the people how much these very people support them. I will decide in the fullness of time, basing my decision on an assessment of whether other candidates can not only defeat Vučić, but also face up to enormous challenges that this administration will leave behind. They're leaving behind a deeply criminalized and imploding society, and this is why what is needed now is not just winning, but also a clear politics and clear values and knowledge, in order to effect a fundamental change in Serbia. More than anything else, it takes courage. I will also base my decision on the assessment of whether and to what extent myself running for present can contribute to us getting to a second election round. We'll make the final decision based not only on the talks we have within the party but also with our coalition partners."
Why do you think that you should be president again? Some might say, "he served two terms as president and showed us what he could do; in 2012 he said, 'see you in another story'; and now he wants to go back to the presidential 'story' ".
"As a matter of fact, I've spent all my political life in the same 'story' – the fight for a free, modern, and democratic Serbia. In this fight I've had different roles, and I've never picked them based on my personal ambitions, but based on my assessments of how much I could contribute to the general cause. I've also played the same roles multiple times – oppositioner, participant in democratic revolutions, even president. You're forgetting that I've played that role multiple times already. The Office of President isn't there for you to demonstrate as an individual what you can do, but to run the country in the best possible way and in the national interest. If I do run, I will certainly make use of my experience of winning, as well as of making mistakes. And since you've asked me why I would run given that 'I showed what I could do,' the answer is – that's why! Before 2012, Serbia was an entirely different country, with far more freedom, democracy, and development than today."
How do you view the parties gathered around Dragan Đilas's Freedom and Justice Party proclaiming themselves as the only true opposition almost? Have you had any talks with that segment of the political opposition about running in the election?
"I cannot view it as anything other than false pretences intended to deceive people. We haven't had talks because for nearly two years they haven't been responding to the opposition's invitations to reach an agreement on coordination and cooperation. Their excuses have been unbelievable at best. We've always responded to such invitations because we think that coordination and cooperation are key. However, there's a segment of the opposition who think that agreement means accepting unilateral proposals, and more often than not blackmail as well. But then what you have isn't either a talk or an agreement, because you cannot fight an autocracy by authoritarianism."
The presidential nominee of that segment of the opposition, Zdravko Ponoš, was part of your team. You appointed him as Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff in 2006. Did he meet your expectations back then, and how do you view him now?
"As the leader of an opposition party, I wish to speak no ill of any opposition nominee. However, as a former president of the country, I have a moral obligation to point certain things out, especially if they are related to national security issues. I'll try to find the middle ground between these two roles of mine, and reply to you by saying that he didn't meet my expectations, which is why he was relieved of his duties. He didn't meet them in his career in the military or, subsequently, in politics, refusing to play some very important roles in which he could have done the most for Serbia's national interests, e.g. participating in the technical negotiations with Priština. I don't know what his political views are now, and neither does the general public. It's not entirely clear which party he is in either, or what politics he stands for, even regarding European integration and Kosovo."
Who could you collaborate with after the elections, and who do you rule out? Do you rule out any sort of collaboration with the Progressive Party?
"Sadly, post-election coalitions are subject not only to wishes and ideological views and values, but also to the mathematics of higher interests. That was the reason why in 2008 we formed a coalition government with the Socialist Party, which had always been our exact opposite in politics. We formed the coalition government in order to prevent Šešelj, Koštunica, and the Socialists forming a government. That was the only other option, and we believed it was our duty to 'eat that frog' and so keep Serbia on the European path. However, that's not the case with the Progressives. The Progressive Party administration has in the past ten years shown such qualities that there isn't even the kind of higher interest that would justify collaborating with them. So, we've ruled out any collaboration with the Progressive Party."
Yesterday a meeting was held where the Social Democratic Party and The Democrats of Serbia merged. What now?
"As of this Saturday, The Democrats of Serbia are part of the Social Democratic Party. For the first time since 2012, all true democrats are gathered together around the great Democratic Party's original mission. After this unification, we're certainly infrastructurally the strongest opposition party, with actual consolidation taking place for the first time in the opposition scene. Until now, all we've had were loose alliances and coalitions, with predominantly disparate policies and values. As for us, the true fight of the opposition begins now, and we hope that others will join the unification process."
Ten years after losing power, do you have any regrets? Over a decision you made, including the staffing-related ones? Would you be able to name your biggest staffing mistake?
"Of course there are things that I regret, as well as things I consider a great success. What's good about it all is that the experience of making those mistakes protects me from repeating them. Similarly, I would repeat everything that I consider successful. It's not really about whether I could name my biggest staffing mistake. It just seems to me that it wouldn't be a good idea at the present moment, given that attacks within the opposition only increase the number of abstentions. The results the opposition will achieve depend primarily on increasing voter turnout and mobilizing disillusioned voters, who are mostly my former voters."
Do you have any regrets about the 2008 "historic reconciliation between the Democratic Party and the Socialist Party", and about what was not unlike a rehabilitation of the Socialists?
"First of all, we didn't rehabilitate the Socialist Party, because they would have been in power even if we hadn't formed a coalition with them. In other words, they were rehabilitated by their voters. Secondly, if we hadn't formed the coalition, the Socialists would have formed a government with the Radicals and Koštunica. No, I don't have regrets about the fact that Serbia wasn't governed by Šešelj during those four years. In fact, I consider that as one of our biggest successes, because in those four years we did very important things for Serbia. If we hadn't formed a coalition with the Socialists or been in government, today Serbia would have been much worse off. For example, we would have long abandoned the European path completely and been a country of people waiting for visas in lines in front of embassies again. And the situation in the country would have been such that most of the visas would have been immigrant ones, to a much greater extent than today. I'm not even excluding the possibility that we would have had partial armed conflicts with our neighbours or even a civil war. Therefore, the coalition preserved the peace in the country and region. If in 2008 I had made a different decision, today you would have been accusing me of that, and asking me why I hadn't saved the country from that outcome."
Lastly, do you feel sorry for the Democratic Party, which you led for years, and its nearly marginal role today?
"Of course I do. It is a party I dedicated my whole political life to, and whose renewal I witnessed at my parents' home. It is a party that brought to Serbia the only decade of democracy in virtually all of its history. And a party alongside which I had my biggest successes. I left it in order not to legitimize its implosion, because back then, after the leadership change, I saw clearly and pointed out what would happen to it. I fought to prevent it from happening until the very end, but the leadership at the time refused my proposed reforms. Moreover, the party started to apologize for the policies from my two terms in office, which helped it achieve its biggest success. The circumstances were such that I had to choose between staying in the party and adhering to its original mission, because these two things were no longer in the same space. I chose the latter, and today, finally, after a decade in which this mission had been stifled, together with the people who were part of the Democratic Party and had founded it, we are bringing this mission back."
Openly about himself
'I'm not a person who fails to see reality'
A web portal recently described you as a "psychologist who chooses the wrong associates without fail" and as someone who "doesn't see reality". How do you comment on that?
"My comment is that these two claims rule each other out in my case. Since I've always openly discussed my staffing mistakes, more than all my predecessors did, it means that I'm not a person who fails to see reality, since I clearly see the reality of those mistakes. Although that article has elements that aren't right at all, there are parts that are absolutely correct. I'd have preferred it if the author had been willing to listen to the other side of the story before drawing any conclusions, but at any rate it is an analytical and provocative text."
Boban Karović
