Ljubiša Preletačević Beli

Ljubiša Preletačević is the alias of Luka Maksimović, the latest and weirdest addition to Serbian politics.

Preletačević (a wordplay on Preletač, a person who changes political allegiances to whichever party is the strongest) began as a joke, in order to poke fun at a discredited political class in last year’s local assembly elections in Maksimović's home town of Mladenovac, part of the greater Belgrade City area.

His list Sarmu probo' nisi ("You didn't taste the sarma" – sarma, a stuffed cabbage roll, is a well-known Serbian delicacy) produced a major upset in the local elections.

Now under the banner of "Samo jako" ("Be strong") and with messages like "Sirotinja uzvraća udarac" ("The poor strike back"), he is running for President after successfully gathering the 10,000 signatures needed to confirm his candidacy.

Labelled as "Serbia's answer to Beppe Grillo", Maksimović hopes to attract voters with an anti-establishment position. Full of mainstream-deprecating and anti-politician humour, his real views remain somewhat unclear because most of his remarks to the media appear to be jokes. For example, he hinted that he might steal more money than his predecessors, but that he would give a portion of that money to his voters.

His campaign videos were always destined to be a hit on social media – on horseback in one, and singing a song in another – and polls suggest that he stands a chance in bringing out the abstainers. Some actually suggest that he is the second most popular candidate after Aleksandar Vučić.