On November 6, 2020, the second panel of the BOS Political Triptych titled The Return of the Conventional or Trump's Second Term was held. Through discussion and summary of the election results, participants analysed the latest US presidential elections.
The panel was moderated by Milorad Bjeletic, BOS executive director and student of the II Generation. He pointed out in his opening speech that, although he lost the elections, Donald Trump will remain an influential part of American politics, taking into account his appointment of three Supreme Court Justices and the polarization in the American society.
Milan Misic, journalist and former Politika correspondent from Washington explained that the US presidential elections are based on customs and tradition. There is no institution such as the Central Electoral Commission. He argued that for the GOP the crucial decision will be whether to distance themselves from Trump or not.
Following up on that point, Denis Kolundzija, journalist that writes about US politics for Vreme and web portal američki-izbori.rs, said that Trump will remain influential in the upcoming period and the next elections in 2024. He reminded the audience that Donald Trump won more votes in these elections than Barack Obama did in 2008 or 2012.
Vladimir Petrovic, Principal Research Fellow at The Institute for Contemporary History and student of the IX Generation, touched upon the challenges for the president-elect Joe Biden. He argued that his focus should be on creating a functional working relationship with the Senate, controlled by the Republicans. The Democratic party candidate won the elections with the largest popular vote ever, since the people not interested in politics voted, Petrovic stated.
This was the second part of the BOS Political Triptych. The first panel was focused on the elections in Montenegro and the third one will be about Kosovo.