Govt. reaches 100 day mark

Ok I'll play.

I'll give this government 3.5 out of 5. I'm happy with the UN ICJ action on Kosovo, diplomacy was effective. In fact it was so effective supporters of Kosovo independence pretended to drop out of that fight (apart from US) and abstained. On the same issue on the other hand we have government action on Montenegro and Macedonia which I think has not been strong enough. I still doubt whether any suing will have the desired result, but owing to the fact that the Serbian government hasn't taken more action, I think it means that when they warned Mg and Mac governments not to recognise, they did not back it up with something specific that could hurt Mg and Mac economies. That mistake allowed the two countries to believe that the cost of recognition was less than not recognising. So on Kosovo generally a total of 2.8 out of 5, and this might have been 4 out of 5.

By the way DSS supporters, don't forget 'DSS MP Slobodan Samardžić criticizes above all, what he calls, the excessive reaction to Montenegro’s recognition of Kosovo independence'. Yes, a softer line than mine!

On economic issues Fiat deal and so on 3.5 out of 5. Quite a few tenders are being cancelled bringing this number down and also the policy of awarding 10% pay rise to pensioners goes against all economic advice in such a financial situation. But the global financial crisis excuses most of this.

I've also been disappointed by the governments failure to crackdown against violent protests. This last protest was better, but not good enough. A clear message must be sent that violence is not acceptible. Look at how Montenegro acted with (the legitimate) protest yesterday. They arrest Spasic on the way to the protest for no reason and they have banned future protests. I may not agree with them on this, but it shows it is possible to crackdown.

I also think it is time to get SRS to stop obstructing the work of parliament. Parliament is unpopular enough as it is and it is high time those lazy MP's, who do nothing but complain - when they even bother to turn up, should pass or reject laws. Perhaps a new law oliging MP's to attend sessions 50% of the time, or they will be deducted 50% of their salary. That would sort them out.

On the Hague Serbia has delivered Mladic and on the EU Serbia could not have done much more.

In all, 3.5 but it could have been more.

Bgannon, I agree with the points you made but have to disagree with you on the pension issue.
Yes,the economy is bad everywhere, but pensioners must be looked after well.
They have worked their whole lives and paid taxes. Where a government can save money is in the perks some government official get etc.

Pensioners will reinvest that rise back into the economy as they pay for their groceries and that way stimulate the economy.
Cutting taxes or other forms of bribes to others in order to win votes will not do that, so I think this is money well spent.

The expulsion of Montenegrin and Macedonian ministers is only a knee jerk reaction as we all know they will be back just like the others before them, but it achieved desired results. People in those countries have something to consider now. We have already seen the reaction in Montenegro.

I don't condone the violence, but I do believe that the violence was started deliberately by government people who were given the task of joining the protest and provoking violence. This was done in order to justify the ban on any future protests. I don't believe for a minute that it was the genuine protestors who started this.

More cunning than Milo you can't get, so we should look at the violence for what it really was. A staged act.

Ok I'll play.

I'll give this government 3.5 out of 5. I'm happy with the UN ICJ action on Kosovo, diplomacy was effective. In fact it was so effective supporters of Kosovo independence pretended to drop out of that fight (apart from US) and abstained. On the same issue on the other hand we have government action on Montenegro and Macedonia which I think has not been strong enough. I still doubt whether any suing will have the desired result, but owing to the fact that the Serbian government hasn't taken more action, I think it means that when they warned Mg and Mac governments not to recognise, they did not back it up with something specific that could hurt Mg and Mac economies. That mistake allowed the two countries to believe that the cost of recognition was less than not recognising. So on Kosovo generally a total of 2.8 out of 5, and this might have been 4 out of 5.

By the way DSS supporters, don't forget 'DSS MP Slobodan Samardžić criticizes above all, what he calls, the excessive reaction to Montenegro’s recognition of Kosovo independence'. Yes, a softer line than mine!

On economic issues Fiat deal and so on 3.5 out of 5. Quite a few tenders are being cancelled bringing this number down and also the policy of awarding 10% pay rise to pensioners goes against all economic advice in such a financial situation. But the global financial crisis excuses most of this.

I've also been disappointed by the governments failure to crackdown against violent protests. This last protest was better, but not good enough. A clear message must be sent that violence is not acceptible. Look at how Montenegro acted with (the legitimate) protest yesterday. They arrest Spasic on the way to the protest for no reason and they have banned future protests. I may not agree with them on this, but it shows it is possible to crackdown.

I also think it is time to get SRS to stop obstructing the work of parliament. Parliament is unpopular enough as it is and it is high time those lazy MP's, who do nothing but complain - when they even bother to turn up, should pass or reject laws. Perhaps a new law oliging MP's to attend sessions 50% of the time, or they will be deducted 50% of their salary. That would sort them out.

On the Hague Serbia has delivered Mladic and on the EU Serbia could not have done much more.

In all, 3.5 but it could have been more.

Bgannon, I agree with the points you made but have to disagree with you on the pension issue.
Yes,the economy is bad everywhere, but pensioners must be looked after well.
They have worked their whole lives and paid taxes. Where a government can save money is in the perks some government official get etc.

Pensioners will reinvest that rise back into the economy as they pay for their groceries and that way stimulate the economy.
Cutting taxes or other forms of bribes to others in order to win votes will not do that, so I think this is money well spent.

The expulsion of Montenegrin and Macedonian ministers is only a knee jerk reaction as we all know they will be back just like the others before them, but it achieved desired results. People in those countries have something to consider now. We have already seen the reaction in Montenegro.

I don't condone the violence, but I do believe that the violence was started deliberately by government people who were given the task of joining the protest and provoking violence. This was done in order to justify the ban on any future protests. I don't believe for a minute that it was the genuine protestors who started this.

More cunning than Milo you can't get, so we should look at the violence for what it really was. A staged act.