We Must ( sr-cyrl, Морамо, Moramo; stylised as Moramo,) is a

parliamentary group A parliamentary group, parliamentary party, or parliamentary caucus is a group consisting of some members of the same political party or electoral fusion of parties in a legislative assembly such as a parliament or a city council. Parliamenta ...

in the

City Assembly of Belgrade The City Assembly of Belgrade ( sr-cyrl, Скупштина града Београда, Skupština grada Beograda) is the legislature of the City of Belgrade, capital of Serbia. It is a representative body that executes the essential functions o ...

. It took part as a

political coalition This is a list of political groups by country. A political group also known as a political alliance, coalition or bloc, is cooperation by members of different political parties on a common agenda of some kind. This usually involves formal agreem ...

in the

2022 Serbian general election General elections were held in Serbia on 3 April 2022 to elect both the president and members of the National Assembly. Initially, parliamentary elections were scheduled to be held in 2024; however, in October 2020 president Aleksandar Vučić ...

. Initially formed in November 2021, when Together for Serbia (ZZS),

Do not let Belgrade drown Do not let Belgrade drown ( sr-Cyrl, Не давимо Београд, Ne davimo Beograd, NDB) is a green political organisation in Serbia. A grassroots movement formed in 2014, aimed at criticising and reforming the current political system t ...

(NDB) and Ecological Uprising (EU) signed an agreement to participate in the

2022 general election The following elections are scheduled to occur in 2022. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2022 United Nations Security Council election * 2022 national electoral calendar * 2022 local ...

under a joint list, it was formalised as a coalition in January 2022. Its representatives had previously played a major role during the 2021–2022 environmental protests. The coalition won 4.7% of the popular vote and managed to cross the

electoral threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of the primary vote that a candidate or political party requires to achieve before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can ...

, while its presidential candidate,

Biljana Stojković Biljana Stojković ( sr-cyrl, Биљана Стојковић; born 6 October 1972) is a Serbian biologist, activist, and professor at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Biology. Stojković was the candidate of the We Must coalition in the ...

, won 3.3% of the popular vote. Following the election, a part of the coalition had transformed into the

Together ''ToGetHer'' (, aka Superstar Express) is a 2009 Taiwanese drama starring Jiro Wang of Fahrenheit, Rainie Yang and George Hu. It was produced by Comic International Productions ( 可米國際影視事業股份有限公司) and directed by Linzi ...

(Z) political party in June 2022. We Must describes itself as a " green-left" coalition. Inside the coalition, NDB and Z cooperate with the

European Green Party The European Green Party (EGP), also referred to as European Greens, is the European political party that represents national parties from across Europe who share Green values. The European Greens works closely with the Greens–European Free ...

, while Solidarity Platform is partnered with the

Party of the European Left The Party of the European Left (PEL), commonly abbreviated European Left, is a European political party that operates as an association of democratic socialist and communist political parties in the European Union and other European countries. ...

History

Background and formation

Aleksandar Jovanović Ćuta, an activist and co-founder of the "Defend the Rivers of Stara Planina" organisation, organised and took part in environmental protests in January and April 2021. Around 60 environmental organisations took part in a protest in April, while the protests later continued after September. The

(NDB) movement, represented by Dobrica Veselinović and Radomir Lazović, and Together for Serbia (ZZS), led by

Nebojša Zelenović Nebojša Zelenović ( sr-cyr, Небојша Зеленовић; born 15 July 1975) is a Serbian politician who served as mayor of Šabac from 2014 to 2020. A former member of the Democratic Party, he presided over the Together for Serbia part ...

, supported the environmental protests, and they formed a connection shortly after. The protests reached climax in late November and early December 2021, and they were regularly organised up till 15 February 2022. Zelenović formed the "Action", a political group built around ZZS that included 28 environmental civic groups that supported the "Green Agreement for Serbia", in June 2021. Lazović later presented a proposal for cooperation between opposition parties with Zelenović in September 2021. The media later dubbed the coalition between Ćuta, Lazović, and Zelenović as the "green-left bloc". A cooperation agreement between Zelenović and Ćuta was signed in November 2021; additionally, they had announced a joint cooperation in the

. On 19 January 2022, the coalition was formalised under the name We Must. During the presentation, it was announced that Ćuta would be head the parliamentary ballot list, Veselinović would head the Belgrade City Assembly ballot list, while Zelenović would represent the parliamentary ballot list. Zelenović stated that the members of the coalition had applied for the membership in the

European Greens The European Green Party (EGP), also referred to as European Greens, is the European political party that represents national parties from across Europe who share Green values. The European Greens works closely with the Greens–European Free ...

, and he cited the Spanish Podemos as the inspiration.

2022 election and aftermath

The We Must coalition held its first campaign rally in

Gornje Nedeljice Gornje Nedeljice ( sr-Cyrl, Горње Недељице) is a village in the municipality of Loznica, Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Ce ...

on 27 February, where they had announced

as their presidential candidate. The coalition also campaigned through out other locations in Serbia. The Slovenian The Left party stated its support for We Must in late March. The coalition won 4.7% of the popular vote and 13 seats in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

, while Stojković won 3.3% of the popular vote in the presidential election. Following the elections, Ćuta and Zelenović announced the formation of a joint political party, later revealed as

. It was also announced that Stojković, Ćuta, and Zelenović would serve as co-leaders. During the same period, a conflict emerged due to the dispute over the coalition's name. NDB had claimed the name as its

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

, although it later withdrew the request that it had sent to the Intellectual Property Office (ZIS). Lazović argued that the intellectual property would be the property of the coalition, and not NDB. During an interview in June, Zelenović had affirmed that the coalition still exists. In late June, Together held a meeting with Party of Freedom and Justice (SSP) and

Zdravko Ponoš Zdravko Ponoš ( sr-cyrl, Здравко Понош; born 3 November 1962) is a Serbian politician, former diplomat, and retired general who served as chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces from 2006 to 2008. Born in Golubić, ...

; NDB did not participate. We Must split into two

s during the first constitutive session of the thirteenth convocation of the National Assembly on 1 August. Zelenović stated that the Together parliamentary group would send an initiative regarding the ban of lithium and boron. NDB had stated that they would continue their cooperation with Together within the We Must coalition, while they would also serve in opposition and decline any cooperation with the

Serbian Progressive Party The Serbian Progressive Party ( sr-cyrl, Српска напредна странка, Srpska napredna stranka, SNS) has been the ruling political party of Serbia since 2012. Founded by Tomislav Nikolić and Aleksandar Vučić in 2008 as a s ...

(SNS) and

Socialist Party of Serbia The Socialist Party of Serbia ( sr, Социјалистичка партија Србије, Socijalistička partija Srbije, SPS) is a political party in Serbia. It is led by Ivica Dačić. It was founded in 1990 as the direct successor to ...

(SPS).

Ideology and position

The We Must coalition was formed by the Together for Serbia (ZZS),

, and the Ecological Uprising movement, led by Aleksandar Jovanović Ćuta, that emphasised their support towards

green politics Green politics, or ecopolitics, is a political ideology that aims to foster an ecologically sustainable society often, but not always, rooted in environmentalism, nonviolence, social justice and grassroots democracy. Wall 2010. p. 12-13. It b ...

. During their founding conference, its representatives stated that they would represent green-left values, and that some of their main goals would include the abandonment of

Rio Tinto Rio Tinto, meaning "red river", may refer to: Businesses * Rio Tinto (corporation), an Anglo-Australian multinational mining and resources corporation ** Rio Tinto Alcan, based in Canada ** Rio Tinto Borax in America *** Rio Tinto Borax Mine, ...

's plan to excavate

lithium Lithium (from el, λίθος, lithos, lit=stone) is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid ...

in Serbia, and to defeat the

(SNS) in the 2022 election. Zelenović also stated that "it is necessary for Serbia to join the green transformations, otherwise it would remain a place for dirty technologies, cheap labor and colonization", and that Serbia should be more orientated towards the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

and the Western world. Its leaders had stated support for "

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, Equal opportunity, opportunities, and Social privilege, privileges within a society. In Western Civilization, Western and Culture of Asia, Asian cultures, the concept of social ...

and

basic needs The basic needs approach is one of the major approaches to the measurement of absolute poverty in developing countries globally. It works to define the absolute minimum resources necessary for long-term physical well-being, usually in terms of ...

for every citizen", and had also commented that "we must overcome the authoritarian regimes in the Balkans". Moramo condemned the request of

Dveri The Serbian Movement "Dveri" ( sr-Cyr, Српски покрет Двери, Srpski pokret Dveri), commonly just known as Dveri (), is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Serbia. It its currently led by Boško Obradović, ...

to cancel EuroPride in July 2022. The We Must coalition has also been described as "the new faces of the opposition's

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

", and were compared to the Croatian We can! party and the Montenegrin

United Reform Action The Civic Movement United Reform Action ( cnr, Građanski pokret Ujedinjena reformska akcija / Грађански покрет Уједињена реформска акција), commonly known as simply United Reform Action, or by its abbreviati ...

. The coalition cooperates with the

, while it had also received support from the European Left during the 2022 electoral campaign. Political parties such as the German Die Linke, Danish

Red–Green Alliance In politics, a red–green alliance or red–green coalition is an alliance of "red" (often social-democratic or democratic socialist) parties with "green" (often green and/or occasionally agrarian) parties. The alliance is often based on commo ...

and Slovenian Levica had also voiced its support for We Must.

Members

The coalition is also made up of the Local Front and the Forum of Romani People of Serbia.

Electoral performance

Parliamentary elections

Presidential elections

Belgrade City Assembly

References

{{Serbian political parties 2022 establishments in Serbia Centre-left parties in Europe European Green Party Green political parties in Serbia Left-wing political party alliances Political opposition organizations Political parties established in 2022 Political party alliances in Serbia Pro-European political parties in Serbia