Power Of Ordinary People: This Presidential Candidate's Alter Ego Is Financed By Disappearing Middle Class’ Donations

What kind of person do you imagine when you say “all politicians are the same”?

Luka Maksimović and a group of young people from a small city in central Serbia had a clear vision, and they made it a reality. One of Serbian presidential candidates for the election to be held on April 2 is Luka Maksimović’s alter-ego, a symbol of a corrupt and unscrupulous politician, whom they named Ljubiša Preletačević Beli.

This article is inspired by the “comic Serbian presidential candidate” memes I’ve seen on the internet. I felt that an explanation and a bigger picture needs to be given, so it would be easier to understand how people started to support something that looks like a joke.

The story of Ljubiša Preletačević Beli

The name itself is of an immense significance for the success of the satire. First name Ljubiša is a traditional Serbian name, and Beli, meaning “white”, Luka chose as the nickname of his alter-ego, to represent an ordinary man that anyone can identify with. Preletačević is a made up Serbian-like last name that means that person is “flying over” from one political party to another, depending on which one is the strongest at the moment.

Beli openly states everything that other politicians would never admit doing behind closed doors. He is an obvious mockery of everything wrong on the political scene. According to his “biography”, Beli started working when he was 6 years old, and now he has a 24-hour long workday.

And he does not work alone - his faithful minion, Nebojša Prilepak, represents a professional coalition partner with no attitude and integrity, always ready to defend his boss. This is the quality that Beli values most. Prilepak is a made up last name that means “limpet” as referring to people who cling tightly.

The story of Luka Maksimović

While Beli represents the mockery of the system and the people present on Serbia’s political scene, Luka, the man behind Beli, is one of us. He is a 25-year-old guy who got sick of the system and decided to start his own movement. He created Beli, and his best friend Stefan Gajić is the man behind the alter ego Nebojša Prilepak.

The movement started locally, in Belgrade municipality Mladenovac, where they won 21% of total votes, which translated to 13 places in the town council. They did a great job there, resolving municipal issues, and one year later, decided to aim higher. To become a presidential candidate, they had to gather a minimum of 10,000 signatures, and people waited in line for up to 5 hours to support Beli with their signature.

In one of his interviews, Luka stated that the whole movement started as an act of rebellion, and even he didn’t expect it to grow this large. He became a surprise of the election, and according to some estimates he could become the strongest opposition force, since a number of new voters or those who ignored elections for years found their idol and a glimpse of hope in Beli.

Luka showed sincerity in his approach, which is probably his strongest weapon. In his words, this is exactly the concept they used successfully in Mladenovac.

"I am an untainted person whom the people love - people who recognized my honesty, someone who will move the masses."

When asked what he would do if he won, Luka said that he would support direct democracy and that people should be asked about all important questions, while the president should be the official figure signing the papers behind those decisions.

In this video you can see an interview with Beli, and people’s reactions in Mladenovac, where the story started. Click CC for English subtitles.

Satire as the best approach to affect the political scene of Serbia?

The use of satire is perfectly justified when it comes to Serbia’s current political scene. The cost of living is increased, salaries and pensions are being reduced, and middle class is disappearing. (This inspired the creation of Beli’s interesting slogan – “Sirotinja uzvraća udarac”, which translates to “The poor strike back”).

In a country where the same politicians have been rotating on the highest places of power for decades, the appearance of a character like Beli is a breath of fresh air. He openly mocks active politicians with their own interest and same old propaganda with empty promises used for decades. Over the years, the number of obviously unqualified people that made important decisions has caused people to lose faith in the system.

All voters could see were politicians taking care of their own interests, jumping political ships for power, regardless of ideology. Then Beli shows up, saying “I’ll steal, but I’ll give to the people as well,” satirizing the approach of the country’s ruling regime. And there is not much they can do to stop him - the usual methods of discrediting the opposition do not work when what they’re facing is, in fact, a representation of the ruling regime itself. The best part about this satirical approach is that Beli does not point fingers to blame anyone, but people are connecting the dots, and that’s doing wonders to mobilize voters who were disillusioned with the system. Instead of writing in options like “Darth Vader” or “Mickey Mouse”, now they feel they have someone to vote for.

In the Serbian presidential election, a candidate needs to win 50% + one vote to win in the first round of election. If that does not happen, two candidates with most votes advance to the second round - where anything can happen. The ruling party voters are disciplined, and their estimated number is around 2 million. The opposition, on the other hand, has many candidates, most of which will likely fail to get abstainers to vote, despite there being a few new faces (and a decent array of options, from right to left). It will be hard for the ruling party to win more than 2 million votes by current estimates, which means that if more than 4 million people vote, second round is imminent. Beli may prove invaluable in ensuring the second round, as his campaign targets disappointed people who normally do not vote.

Here you can see videos made for Beli’s campaign (directed by his supporters). Click CC for English subtitles.

Who are the people supporting the campaign and how do they do it?

All the money collected for Beli’s campaign came through donations from ordinary enthusiastic people who are ideologically diverse. The one thing they have in common is that they don’t expect Beli to give them a ready-made solution and be their saviour - they want to be a part of that solution.

New political front moved from TV and the press to the internet and social networks where those young, self-taught people rule the IT environment and do not fall under political indoctrination. They are considered a lost generation of people who never had a chance to prove their value and fight the consequences of corruption and war destruction symbolized by an upside-down system of values that they witness every day.

Now, people all around the country are volunteering to organize events and campaigns, and they’re creating promotional materials in order to support Beli, using mostly social networks. With slogans like “Ave Beli” and “Samo jako!” (Go strong!), these ordinary people made a real impact. From the internet, word of mouth is spread to streets and public places, reaching a wider audience.

The significance of Beli’s revolution

Beli’s revolution goes even further because it brings together people who are not only an instrument of system destruction, but also the solution for the entire problem. He offers a chance to all politically discolored people to become this solution, and he becomes their voice. Selection of human personnel in the age of mass communications and information technologies gives a greater dose of reliability, transparency and consistency and a chance for better success of direct democracy.

Roughly ten thousand active volunteers are spreading the words of Beli, and the number is increasing, spreading like a virus that has the potential to destroy the system that hasn’t yet figured out how to deal with it. It could cause an epidemic, and perhaps a pandemic. Everything becomes a tool in Beli’s campaign, even memes.

Even though Beli's impact is strictly local, satirical figures in politics may become reality for a number of countries in the future.

I wrote the article with the help of a few people with similar opinions, and it represents our collective analysis of the current events. They are:

• Milica Marinković - Writer/Editor
• Jana Glavonjić - Writer/Editor
• Ivan Lukačević - Data miner, pattern and knowledge extractor
• Vladimir Lončar - Philosophy professor

As a bonus, here are some examples of materials created by supporters: