The Bureau for Social Research (BIRODI) reported that only a quarter of the Serbian president’s “New Year interview” actually fell within his constitutional powers, claiming the address was primarily used to “polish up” his approval ratings.
BIRODI explained that its monitoring and content analysis of the president’s media appearances are conducted to track incumbent campaigning during and outside of official election cycles.
According to their detailed analysis of the president’s year-end interview, just 24.6 percent of the content was aligned with the constitutional powers of the president of Serbia.
“For instance, the president did not say a word about presidential pardons, the appointment of ambassadors, or the reasoning behind the signing and promulgation of laws,” BIRODI said.
Within the small portion that did relate to his actual constitutional duties, the dominant theme was Serbia’s standing in the world, accounting for 17.4 percent of the total content, it added.
BIRODI’s thematic breakdown of the remaining three-quarters, that is, of the material that falls outside the President’s constitutional powers, shows that the choice of topics clearly served a deliberate communication strategy.
“The address first stirs anxiety and fear among the audience through ‘predictions of global conflicts,’ only to then neutralize that fear by highlighting Serbia’s military strengthening and rearmament,” BIRODI explained.
The President then attempts to boost public satisfaction by pointing to allegedly positive economic results, it said, adding that the same goal was served by emphasizing technological progress, particularly in the field of artificial intelligence.
“Topics that could potentially mobilize his voter base but where there are either no convincing results or which could actually harm his personal ratings and those of the Serbian Progressive Party – such as Kosovo and corruption – were pushed firmly into the background,” BIRODI said.
Source: N1
