At a time when Serbia seems to have descended back into its abyss of the mid-1990s, it is hard to find much cause for optimism. Nationalist politicians harp on about Kosovo, either out of an aggressive genuine belief or, more sadly, because it is the easiest vote winner. Playing on nationalist sentiment is rife in Belgrade’s corridors of power, the likes of Presidential candidate finalists Nikolic and Kostunica giving the western world little reason to believe that change will ever be afoot. We must not forget though that there are reasons to be hopeful. Serbia has a long democratic tradition, an example including the demonstrations by Belgrade’s citizens against collaboration with the Nazi’s in 1941 that overthrew the government and a similar stand against Milosevic in 2000. This has unfortunately become hidden behind a putrid cloud of jingoism, militarism and criminality over the past 25 years but reasons for hope still exist. One of these reasons is Biljana Srbljanovic, Belgrade mayoral candidate for the Liberal Democratic Party.

Srbljanovic, a playwright by trade, transcends her profession and is now equally famous as an outspoken critic of the culture of lies which exists in Serbia’s political infrastructure. She has held these views since coming to prominence during the 1990s as a talented producer of productions for both the theatre and television. A voice of reason, if albeit in an indisputably confrontational manner, Srbljanovic writes a blog for B92, arguably Serbia’s only credible media outlet. Her first play, Beogradska trilogija, tells the story off three groups of Serbs who have left Belgrade in search of a better life but never manage to find it. The problems experienced by Srbljanovic’s characters are also those which affect the citizens of Belgrade and Serbia in general, and it is this that has prompted her foray into institutional politics.

Srbljanovic has never minded courting controversy and putting her neck on the line, sometimes with mixed results. She has had run ins in the past with Serbian figureheads of politics and society, eminent director Emir Kusturica and current President Boris Tadic being two notable examples. Srbljanovic, in spite of her indomitable personality which can sometimes get the better of her judgement nevertheless offers an alternative which has been lacking from Serbian politics for sometime. She, with her liberal European ethos would represent a return to the legacy of assassinated Prime Minister Zoran Dindic, a man who himself was once Mayor of Belgrade.

It is with a certain irony that we should note that Srbljanovic is actually a relative of Radovan Karadzic, the war criminal who directed most of the atrocities from the Bosnian war of 1992-1995. The two characters, for anyone familiar with Srbljanovic’s work, look like political caricatures of Daca and Mara from Beogradska Trilogija. Despite their blood links, Karadzic and Srbljanovic are worlds apart. Karadzic must be left to the past while Srbljanovic should be thrust into the present. She, no doubt in part thanks to her good looks, is a beacon of youthful resistance, a woman with a fiery tongue that speaks the truth all too many others wish to brush under the rug.

Srbljanovic will need a lot of luck to get elected. She lags behind others in the polls, especially frontrunners from the Democratic and Radical parties. In all likelihood, she will not be elected, but Serbia is a complicated problem and not one which can be solved overnight. One little step from Srbljanovic adds to the other initiatives which she has made and also to those of others. Some will accuse her of using her mayoral bid as just another attempt at garnering publicity, but this is too easy a put-down. Were she not to speak out then we would no doubt accuse her of sitting back on her laurels. One of Yugoslavia’s other great authors, Ivo Andric, once said “Art and the will to resist are victorious over all evil and even death”. Given the worrying trend for many of Serbia’s cultural figures to tread the nationalist line during the war years, it is with even greater praise and respect that we should look to Srbljanovic as a model carved in the tradition of Andric.

SEE Times article about Srbljanovic
Srbljanovic’s B92 blog
urtain Up review of Beogradska trilgija