"Boycotting," a fancy word for "silence"

What you wrote in your article represents the western perception of real democracy, which many political actors over here who claim that are "democratic" are ignoring. Voting is a democratic right of each individual, citizen of the relevant country, and as such it is realy contradictory for this "democratic" actors to call for not using this right. That's why I have in my signature the slogan "Boycot the Boycot" because I think that each individual should decide by himself, not to be told what to do, whether he will use his democratic right or not and what he will state for the Constitution. I must admit that in many parts I don't agree to the current Constitution, but I will use my right and say my opinion.

Unfortunatelly, the Serbian perception of Democracy is something that was imported by several individuals serving their own interests (LDP, etc), which however differs enormously from the actual democraqcy that exists in Europe and USA.

Greets

"Nije naivno kada dodje sloboda, onda ne mozes da radis sve sto ti se hoce"

BOJKOT BOJKOTU

Let's say there's exactly 6000000 Serbs in the electorate (for the sake of convenience) and 2500000 vote for the constitution. The chances of getting 2500001 to vote against it (which would represent a participation rate in excess of 80%, which could only happen in say, Australia, where you have to vote or you are fined) are zero. It shows much more political savvy for those who do not support the constitution to opt out of voting entirely, because without the requisite 50% turnout the constitution will be defeated. Imagine, again for the sake of convenience, that those numbers are correct, and 2500000 vote for adopting the constitution... and then you, a dissenting Serb, make the descent down the stairway in your apartment, deciding to go out and vote against it. And it just so happens that you are the 500001st person to register a 'no' vote. Guess what? You just voted the for the adoption of the constitution!

Now I am not a Serb, and nor am I in any way offering an opinion on the merits or the pitfalls of the constitution (though I will say that I see no problem with its "territorial claim to Kosovo," because I am not an American), but I find your implicit suggestion that Serbs who boycott the referendum are in some way neglecting their civic duty to be breathtaking in its naivety.

Lucy you have to remember the context of recent history.
Just as your 'knee jerk' reaction is to participate in the political process, the 'knee jerk' reaction of some of those who opposed Slobodan Milosevic is to consider boycott and obstructionism.

The history to that is that political participation in Serbia rarely had an effect (it is still that way). Electoral boycotts were always going on in Serbia under Milosevic and most of the time these boycotts had no effect whatsoever. But the boycotts allowed people who opposed Sloba to at least foster a sense of unity, a sense of rejecting the values of 1990's Serbia. Of course in reality Milosevic continued to rule, boycott or not.

When making a decision on things of this type I always err towards the less emotional argumentation. For example Kostunica gives me the severe creeps when he starts talking about how Serbs need a constitution to be able to define themselves. Patronising, nationalist claptrap.

People - not symbols, flags, cheap words, define themselves. This sways me towards voting against the constitution or joining the boycott and then I hear the almost religous like frevor that proponents of the boycott are adopting. It kind of reminds me of the party line under communism. Life is so simple for them - black and white. That certainly isnt the way I see life. All of us make compromises every day of our lives, we make morally questionable decisions. Do these people want a perfect constitution? (Do they live perfect lives?) Hey, I'd like a perfect life but I wont get it. Do those people know that they will never get the constitution they want? Yes, most of them do know that. So the boycott may have more to do with 'inat' than it has to do with Serbia's civic future.
And an additional benefit of rejecting something so completely is the rather handy situation of being able to blame others when things go wrong. Its never your fault and you are never responsible.

I've found the only way of deciding is to go through the document blow by blow on your own. I still havent decided but I will.

PS I'm glad you dont fall neatly into line of mirroring the opinions of the reformist / NGO camp in Serbia. I hope you dont keep silent in the context of this debate (when discussing with other reformists in Serbia, rather than just at this blog).

To participate or not ?
You almost certainly know the American addage that if you do not vote than you have no right to complain. Not sure if you know George Carlin's rebuttle :
"On the contrary; you voted, you participated, you elected the bastard so it's your fault. I, on the other hand, had nothing to do with it. So it's you who have no right to complain !"
Anyway, I agree with you, but I never vote. And I have the right to vote in both the US and in Serbia. I just got sick of none of my candidates ever wining.
US update
Regarding the upcoming US elections, basically the Republicans are done for. Middle America has finally had enough and it looks like the Christian Conservatives are so disapointed that they wont make a significant effect. So, in essence you're looking at a split government 'til 2008. The House will be Democratic and the Senate split down the middle. So 2 years of gridlock and yelling at each other with nothing getting done.
In general people are disgusted with their Government and even anchors on CNN are calling for a Country wide anti-incumbant vote. Basically, getting people to just vote against every incumbant on the ballot.
It's awsomely boaring. I'll refrain from voting and hopefully one day be able to really affect the political proces via campaign contributions. Now that's getting your voice heard !
Or maybe I'll write-in vote "Lucy Moore" for the next presidential ellection... hmmmm
Peace.

Boycott is more safe way of preventing the fraud. As I am sure that the organizers of voting will resort to anything to push their agenda, I won't have my name and signature on the voters list! They can easily alter the ballots during the night or whenever since they are the ones who "guard" and overlook the process. Whatever you vote for, your name is in the list and who can know what came out of your voting in the end. This way my name is not on the list and that proves I voted against this...

anyway, two days of voting, primitive and lying propaganda, lack of any fair game and SHIT of the constitution are my reasons to boycot this fascist circus.

The only reason for boycott is the fact that nobody in Serbia can collect enough voters to vote againts the Constitution. So, this way they will boycott the referendum and after the Constitution is approved by more than 50% of registered voters, they will claim that referendum was a fraud (I only hope they will be able to prove that).

**Take your place in history and prey you don't repeat it**

Three man, one of them well known fascist, one of them without single political attitude ever spoken and third one "moderate nationalist" made this constitution proposal in three days; it was voted next evening; MPs that voted had it in their hands three hours before voting. Then they called me to say my opinion.

My opinion is this: next time, about serious things I want serious job to be done. When you do that, I will participate in the referendum you make. I don't want to say simple 'no', I want to say I DON'T GIVE A SHIT.

I know that they would like me to be an idiot; I'll have to disappoint them.

PS I voted in every single elections since I got the right to vote. Only occasion when I did not participate was Milosevic's referendum about foreign monitors in Kosovo. This is the second occasion. The thing that worries me is the striking resemblance between these two occasions.

Do you know that childish questions like "do you still beat your wife?" Whatever you answer, you're in a problem - if you don't beat your wife and you never did, you still cannot say 'no', because it would mean that you used to beat her.

Problem is that the question implies something that cannot be discarded by simple yes/no answer. The question is wrong.

In Far East, for such questions they have answer mu.

If I go and vote, it would mean that I accept practice that referendum about constitution can be called in seven days; without single person asked about this funny proposal (except three wise men). No, it is not a serious way to conduct the business.

I believe that politics should be something better than what we had in nineties. Practice like this made me go on every demonstrations in Belgrade, knowing that I would be chased by police and swallowed tear-gas. I want this country to be led in responsible manner! I don't want fake shows of national unity that are made to hide government's inability to fulfill its promises.

the boycotters are aware that the majority of those that will turn out at the referendum will cast a yes vote, so the only chance of getting the constitution proposal rejected would be a failed referendum, i.e. a less than 50% turnout.

Here, young people are told by elderly to respect following two things: (1) whatever opinion you have about a current majority in your country, you never trashtalk about your people and your country in front of a foreigner or when being abroad, and (2) when you are abroad, never play a viseguy in the matters of politics of your kind hosts. It is a matter of good manners and being polite, nothing else.

Participation in the voting process is a right, not a duty. Hence non-voting is also a legitimate option.

In this case, a boycott lowers the turnout and increases the chances of failing of the referendum (e.g. voting NO).

Once upon a time I was younger and proud of multicultural, multiethnic and multireligious YU. But it fall apart at the end of 20th century in a bloody war while USA reminded the only superpower on the world!

Voting absentism was strictly negative in former YU with blatant control of NO votes. Smart people adopt accordingly...

LP MMM

if the gods wanted us to vote, they would send us candidates. If you look at the ones that are offering themselves, they are just there to prove that modern politics is celebrity for ugly people. Nothing to vote for.
Or, let me put it this way: Did you ever get the feeling that the world is a tuxedo, and you are a pair of brown shoes? That's how I feel at election time.

Goerge Orwell entered the following into his diary for April 27, 1942: "We are all drowning in filth…I feel that intellectual honesty and balanced judgment have simply disappeared from the face of the earth." I think this is true for both Serbian and American politics.

LOL!!!

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A Conservative Angle
http://degaullist.wordpress.com

Whole thing about "boycotting" is a desperate attempt to get more votes. For if "a failed sociologist, a failed actor, an accident-prone biker with a cane, senile commies and a bunch of frustrated feminazis " are boycotting the referendum, than it is all clear :)

And one more thing:
", especially with ~4,000,000 going to the polls and overwhelmingly (a 95% majority!) voting in favour of the draft (source: Cesid)."

Since when is Cesid lying for our cause?:)
Do you remeber Montenegro referendum? Or some former elections here in Serbia? Ha, ha. Cesid :)

My two cents on the subject:
http://isp.b92.net/~beowulf/referendum.html
(Serbian cyr. only)

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Ћирилица!

USA : We (and our juvenile delikvent) did some nasty things in the Middle east. Kosovo Serbs must pay for this. The Serbs are guilty.

UN : we'll give you (=USA) all the legal cover that you need and humanitarian aid for the victims of your "righteousness". The Serbs are guilty.

EU : Oh, Serbs, don't look at us. We are just a junior partner. We can't help you. You saw what happened in Lebanon. The Serbs are guilty.

"Kosovars" and "Bosniaks" : This is a good opportunity for us.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/05/09/wkos09.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/05/09/ixworld.html

Croatians: We need more Serbs so we could do this again:
http://www.antiwar.com/malic/?articleid=6861

Serbian 'democratic' politicians (ex commies): Yes, we are corrupted but it is all Milosevic's fault. He made this system.
Serbian 'patriotic' politicans (ex commies): Those democrats are worse then we ever were. But don't worry, we'll defend the Serbs.
Serbian desperados (NGOs, LDPs, frustrated women and such): This Kostunica is so boring. We want Milosevic back. We need our meaning of life.
Serbian media: The Serbs... those ungrateful bastards. They just don't appreciate the values of our news and views.

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"Now that we are poor, we are free. No white man controls our footsteps. If we must die, we'll die defending our rights."
Chief Sitting Bull (Tatanka Iyotake), Hunkpapa Sioux (1831-1890)
http://isp.b92.net/~beowulf/blog.html

In my nike sports shoes :), having two expectations expecting two things:
1. that for the next voting (elections) I'll be somewhere far away.
2. that my Nike's will last that long, (for I cannot afford another pair :) )

Cheers Lucy, have a nice life.

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And if I forget you Lebanon, let me be forgotten by the EU, UN, BBC and the rest of the USA puppets.

All things considered, 49,7% sounds reasonable.