We, students, have been blocking our faculty buildings all over Serbia for almost four months. The demands of the protests have not been fulfilled yet, and with the increased pressure we put on institutions to do their job, the pressure we withstand increases. Due to the growing involvement of citizens and other sectors of society, the protests have evolved from students’ to nationwide.Оur society has united as never before – first in grief after the tragedy,and immediately after in the fight for justice. Still, the question that is of pressing interest to all remains: What is the next step?

Everything that we, students, have accomplished so far was possible owing to self-organisation according to the principles of direct democracy and plenary sessions. The plenum is an open forum for all members of a collective, where everybody equally participates in proposing the agenda items, discussing them and making decisions by simple majority vote. Contrary to the established model of representative democracy, in which all power and responsibility is delegated to chosen representatives who decide our fate on our behalf, in direct democracy everyone is equally in charge and equally responsible for matters that concern them.

Everyone has a right to take a part in governing their country, directly or through freely elected representatives, guaranteed by Article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia states: No state body, political organisation, group or individual may usurp the sovereignty from the citizens. Article 67 of the Law on Local Self-Government stipulates that the forms of direct involvement of citizens in achieving local self-government are: citizens’ initiative, citizens’ assembly and referendum. Article 69 of the same law states that citizens’ assembly deliberates and offers proposals on matters that fall under the competence of bodies of local self-government units. Citizens’ assembly adopts demands and propositions by majority vote of present members and addresses them to the assembly or particular bodies and offices of local self-government units.

Therefore, while students have the plenum, the citizens have its equivalent in citizens’ assembly. Nevertheless, due to the prominent centralisation and the corruption of the system, of local self-government, and then, as a consequence, of the local community, they are tendentiously overlooked. The strength of the students’ movement lies in direct democracy, which is, contrary to representative democracy, not susceptible to manipulation and bribery. Representative democracy is clearly not able to find a way out of the social and political crisis that has lasted for several decades in our country, while the direct democracy model, based on our experience, stands a good chance.

Students are not, do not wish to, nor can be the reflection of the general will. The answers to the most general questions concerning the state and society that are currently arising do not concern students only, and therefore cannot fall on students’ shoulders only. All citizens, who are, according to the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, irrevocable bearers of sovereignty, should take part in the discussion and decision-making concerning the ongoing crisis. This is why we invite you to turn to local self-government and self-organise according to the model of direct democracy – through the statutory body of citizens’ assembly.

The ones in charge and those who make the decisions are the ones concerned – and those are all of us.

EVERYBODY ASSEMBLE!