ANTIDEMOCRATIC PLENARY DEMOCRACY
The League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia (SKOJ) expresses its strong rejection of the “Letter to the People of Serbia” and considers it an anti-popular method of struggle. After the “Niš Edict,” which shaped the so-called student protest as a politically liberal movement, the address of the so-called students in blockade to the people of Serbia reveals that behind this political group, supported by the civil opposition, lies a method of struggle deeply rooted in right-wing anarcho-liberal ideology.
Plenums, as a method of struggle, reject the authority of the state, organizations, and parties, demanding even greater withdrawal of the state from the economy and universities. This process, which became evident during the protests of 1968, uses left-wing rhetoric, but actually conceals a liberal essence. The long-term consequence of such an approach is further withdrawal of the state from the economy and education, which opens up space for private capital and strengthens the neoliberal agenda.
SKOJ emphasizes that plenums deny individual responsibility, hiding behind collective responsibility. There is no clearly defined leadership or specific responsibilities. In reality, power is taken by a small, informal group that controls the process, while a facade is created that everyone is involved in decisionmaking. These groups, through manipulation of the processes, impose their views, while the rest of the participants only act as decoration.
The group that dominates the plenary process imposes the so-called “self-organized” mantra, hiding the real power behind collective decisions. Although everyone formally makes decisions, the real control lies with those who are the loudest and most organized. The course of the debate is predetermined, and discussions in plenums resemble a performance rather than a genuine democratic debate.
The liberal opposition, through its professors and students at universities, uses this method to impose its views. The system of manipulation goes so far that certain Plenums distance themselves from civil parties (which is correct), but still remain on the line of liberal demands that represent a “sacred cow” that cannot be questioned. No demand that is not in line with civil protests can be imposed. In this way, students who believe they have prevented the influence of civil parties remain on the ideological line of demands that civil parties, through their agitators, established at the beginning of the protests.
This model of “self-organization” represents a method of manipulation. Although it is presented as direct democracy and freedom of expression, in practice, it is a system in which a group that controls the course of the discussion dominates, while everyone else merely creates the illusion that their ideas are part of collective thinking. The lengthy, directed discussions exhaust participants, who eventually leave the plenums, leaving a small organized group to make decisions that are presented as a result of direct democracy.
Additionally, Plenums are limited in their actions because there are not enough classrooms at the university or squares in the cities where the voice of the majority can be heard. It is tragicomic that, although plenums reject representative democracy, they demand that the state fulfill their demands. It is naive to believe that the method of “self-organization” will succeed against the institutional and organized structures of the state, which possesses ideological and repressive apparatuses, as well as against any well-organized party or group. This method of organizing is only possible at universities, where students, as service users, have equal status, unlike workers in hierarchically structured collectives.
SKOJ believes that the real method of struggle must be organized, with clearly defined leadership and by gathering progressive forces that will fight for class, not liberal, goals. Plenums are not just an ineffective method of struggle – they are, in fact, an anti-communist method of struggle. Communists advocate for everyday organized struggle, while “self-organization” means disorganization and easy manipulation of the masses (in this case, by the civil opposition that imposed its political agenda). Our struggle must be based on clear organization, responsibility, and real class struggle that will advance the material interests of students and working people. Only through serious and organized work can we create conditions in which the rights and needs of all will be satisfied, and not just the interests of well-organized groups that manipulate the plenums. Therefore, for SKOJ, the “Letter to the People of Serbia” is an unacceptable pamphlet behind which the voice of the civil opposition can be heard. Plenums are an anti-popular method of struggle!
The Secretariat of the League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia
Belgrade, March 15, 2025
