"Cabinet reshuffle could be much ado about nothing"

"Cabinet reshuffle could be much ado about nothing"

"It seems to me this will turn out to be much ado about nothing," Goati said, adding that he thought it was highly unlikely the SNS would get rid of its current coalition partners, "considering that SPS leader Ivica Dacic as the Progressives (SNS) coalition partner in the government is also an official in European bodies."

"That's the anchor that, in a way, keeps him in office. Replacing the president of the SPS would probably be characterized as putting into question of some kind the country's foreign policy course," he said.

Goati also thinks chances are slim for another party to replace the SPS, "because there is nobody in the current parliament who could do that."

The possibility of a change at the helm of the government is "completely unrealistic," he said, and added:

"Of course, anything's possible, just as it is possible that Halley's comet, that flies by Earth every 76 years, might once fly by after 75 years."

As for the postponement of the reshuffle until after provincial and local elections, Goati said that would mean "extending the deadline by which the Sword of Damocles will hang over the ministers' heads."

This kind of delay, he thinks,could also provide an opportunity for "someone who should not be in the government to leave in a nice way and save face."

"They will be offered a lucrative, prestigious position, either ambassadorial or in some well-paid public office, and then it will be said that their government job and the new job are incompatible, so the person will save face and step down quietly," said Goati.

Beside the four possible reshuffle options that he commented on - and which Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic listed earlier this week - this analyst believes there is also "the latent effect that stems from the situation where the ministers live in fear of being replaced."

"I believe this is having a considerably great influence on the ministers, certainly they work better and more carefully," Goati said.