NKPJ: “An anti-people government replaced by an anti-people opposition”

In a statement published on 27 October under the headline “An Anti-People Government Replaced by an Anti-People Opposition,” the party argued that the defeat of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) would not, by itself, bring a change in the country’s economic and foreign policies.

According to the NKPJ, the SNS government has continued the privatisation process initiated by the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) after the political changes of 2000. The party criticised subsidies to foreign companies, tax policies favouring capital, changes to labour legislation and what it described as restrictions on workers’ rights. It also pointed to low wages, the cost of living and inadequate funding for healthcare and education as evidence of the difficulties facing working people.

The NKPJ argues that the student-backed opposition list, which emerged victorious in the election, represents a continuation of these policies rather than a fundamental alternative. It describes the list as pro-imperialist and predicts that Serbia’s orientation towards the European Union and military cooperation with NATO will continue. The party also raises concerns about possible changes in relations with China and Russia. 

NKPJ assesses its electoral performance

The party also addressed its own participation in the election. The NKPJ and its youth organisation, the League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia (SKOJ), contested the election through the Russian Party – Serbia in BRICS electoral list. The alliance was based on shared positions opposing Serbian membership of NATO and the European Union, supporting closer relations with Russia and BRICS, and defending antifascist traditions.

The list received approximately 0.2% of the vote, according to the NKPJ’s statement. The party described this as a good result given what it characterised as unequal media treatment and the campaign’s limited financial resources. It credited communist voters who responded to its appeal with contributing to the result.

The NKPJ said that it had used the campaign to promote the struggle against exploitation and Western imperialism. Its decision to contest the election through the Russian Party list reflected its stated preference for cooperation based on shared positions on international alignment and national sovereignty.

Criticism of the student movement and call for a broader left front

The statement also condemned an attack on Informer television that the party attributed to so-called citizens’ assemblies supporting the student list. While criticising the broadcaster’s editorial policy and its previous treatment of NKPJ and SKOJ activists, the party said it opposed attacks on people carrying out their work.

Concluding its assessment, the NKPJ called on workers, rural labourers, students, pensioners, young people, unemployed people and progressive intellectuals to form an electoral front bringing together progressive, antifascist and left-wing forces against the exploitation of labour and Western imperialism.