People's Movement for the State
The People's Movement for the State (Serbian: Народни покрет за државу, romanized: Narodni pokret za državu, abbr.
NPZD), also referred to as the Movement for the People and the State (Serbian: Покрет за народ и државу, romanized: Pokret za narod i državu, abbr.
[4][5] Following the 2022 Serbian general election, Vučić hinted at the potential creation of a political bloc or a movement that would act as the rebranded SNS.
[6][7] Nova and Vreme news magazines compared the announced project to the All-Russia People's Front, saying that "the only common goal of the blocs is to strengthen [Vučić's and Vladimir Putin's] personal ratings" (zajedničko im je i to što je pravi cilj, zapravo, jačanje njihovog ličnog rejtinga).
[30][31][32] Vučić revived the discussion about the NPZD's formation in February 2024, saying that the movement "should continue the economic growth of Serbia and defend [Serbia's] national and state interests" (koji će imati snage da ubrza ekonomski rast Srbije i odbrani naše nacionalne i državne interese).
[34] This time, analyst Dejan Bursać described NPZD as a "marketing trick" (marketinški trik) and as an attempt to divert from then-ongoing themes regarding the European Parliament adopting a resolution on the irregularities that occurred in the 2023 elections.
[38] Vladimir Pejić, the executive director of opinion poll agency Faktor Plus, argued that the elections were the "dress rehearsal" (generalna proba) for the movement.
[9][43] In June 2023, Vučić announced that the NPZD would also publish its political platform "in 10 or 15 days" (za deset ili 15 dana).
According to the newspaper Danas, the movement would likely promote "responsible national and civic positions" (odgovorne nacionalne ali i građanske politike) and economically liberal policies.
[6] Nova reported that the movement would be positioned in the political centre, that it would support the accession of Serbia to the European Union, and that it would oppose sanctions on Russia related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
[49] Bojan Klačar, the executive director of CeSID, stated for Blic that the movement would likely be ideologically lean to the political centre-right.
[41] Political commentator Predrag Rajić said that "the most logical thing for the movement would be to include ruling parties" (najlogičnije bilo da u tom bloku budu partije vladajuće većine); he named the SPS, SDPS, PS, and JS as potential members.
[62] Goran Vesić, the minister of construction, transport, and infrastructure, added that non-governmental organisations could also take part in the movement.
[46][65][66] In an August 2023 interview for Politika, Ljajić said that "[SDPS] certainly expects talks with our coalition partner, the Serbian Progressive Party" ([SDPS] svakako očekuje razgovore s našim koalicionim partnerom Srpskom naprednom strankom) and that he sees the potential of the movement to be the "barrier to any extremism, especially right-wing extremism" (ja ga vidim kao branu svakom ekstremizmu, naročito desničarskom).
[73][74] Vladan Zagrađanin also said that if SPS joined, it would "renounce everything that it had built up over the years" (odrekla svega što je građeno godinama).
Paunović said that SPS joining the NPZD would not "threaten the party's identity" (ne bi ugrozio stranački identitet) and that they would "put ideological differences aside in order to achieve a common goal" (staviti po strani ideološke razlike i objediniti se oko zajedničkog cilja).
[65][76] Enis Imamović, a Party of Democratic Action of Sandžak member of parliament, said that "the movement does not provide answers to other questions of vital importance for Bosniaks" (niti daje odgovore na druga pitanja od vitalnog značaja za Bošnjake), while the Justice and Reconciliation Party said that it would consider participating in the movement.
