Tadić: No deal on new gov't

Tadić: No deal on new gov't

“That is simply not possible, since voters are those who channel Serbia’s direction and they voted giving all the ruling coalition parties put together the number of parliament seats the Democratic Party has won on its own. The people’s will must be respected,” Tadić said.

“I want to see agreement on a policy that has a future. I do not wish to secure portfolios for the Democratic Party, to provide our members with ministerial posts. The Democratic Party need not enter a government that will implement the same policy of suspended EU talks and failure to secure a better standard of living for the citizens,” Tadić said.

According to the president, the failed cabinet talks never discussed personnel issues and individuals, rather questions of which party would have the decisive role in which sector of Serbia’s society.

“Personally, I have always been ready for major compromises, provided they secured a solution, improved our lives and led us closer to EU membership. With this in mind I was ready to offer the incumbent prime minister to continue in his post,” Tadić stressed.

“I believed this to be a huge compromise and a step forward in efforts to form a government, without insisting on the fact the DS has won more votes than the DSS and NS put together,” Tadić said, and added that after this, new demands followed.

“I have to say,” the president emphasized, “that I was ready even for new concessions during the last days [of cabinet talks] so that we could form a government and move on, but that did not suffice.”

“My position is very clear: a party, the DSS in this instance, cannot control both the police and BIA, primarily since those sectors have not undergone sufficient reform, while the SAA talks with the EU have been discontinued for a year due to a lack of cooperation with the Hague Tribunal,” Tadić explained.

The president also said he will consider the new circumstances and propositions from the parties in the coming days, and reminded that only Božidar Đelić submitted his official candidacy to become the next prime minister.

Cabinet talks fail

Earlier Friday, B92 learned that leaders of the so-called Democratic Bloc parties have found no agreement on a new government in a meeting held in Belgrade Thursday.

The meeting, considered by the media to be crucial for the efforts of the Democratic Party (DS), the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) and G17 Plus to form a coalition, lasted a short time and ended with no results.

Tadić told his interlocutors that the DSS could under no circumstances hold on to key positions in the police (MUP) and the security agency (BIA), and that Velimir Ilić cannot hope to assume the post of transport minister.

Koštunica, on the other hand, said MUP chief Dragan Jočić, head of BIA Rade Bulatović and Ilić must all remain in office.

The leaders are reported to have ended the talks in a tense atmosphere, without selecting a date for a future meeting.

Merkel wants to see democratic government in Serbia

German Chancellor Angela Merkel wants to see a democratic government formed in Serbia in line with the wishes of the people who voted in January's elections, a government spokesman said in Berlin on Friday.

Spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said Merkel was closely following the efforts to put together a new coalition

"The chancellor believes the European future (of Serbia) is linked to the creation of a democratic government and cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague," the spokesman added.

Serbia has been run by Vojislav Koštunica's caretaker government since inconclusive elections on January 21, and has come dangerously close to the May 15 deadline which would force repeat elections.

Analysts say new polls would benefit only the extreme nationalists.