Belgrade: DS, SPS harmonize principles

The DS-led coalition and parties gathered round the SPS have established working principles for the Belgrade local govt. They expect these principles to be supported by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Belgrade: DS, SPS harmonize principles The Democratic Party’s (DS) city board announced today that one of the key principles would be to “professionalize the work of the capital’s public enterprises,” meaning that at least half of the companies’ directors would not be non-party members. The two coalitions also agreed to improve the transparency of the work of the Public Procurement Office, meaning that in future, citizens and other interested parties would have full access to all public procurements by the city authorities, read a statement. The statement added that the agreed principles would be presented in direct talks with representatives of the LDP, which is expected to support the minority government formed by the DS and Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) coalitions. The LDP earlier announced that it would support the minority government only if the public enterprises in the capital became depoliticized. The deadline for the election of a new local government expires on Friday. G17 confident of new Belgrade govt. The health minister expects the constitutive session of the Belgrade Assembly to be scheduled before the deadline. Under the law, the Belgrade local government has to be constituted by August 22. Tomica Milosavljevic, who is also head of G17 Plus’s Belgrade board, told Radio B92 that he thought that the Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) calls for depoliticization within the city’s authorities were nothing but political rhetoric. "Negotiations are ongoing and they have their ups and downs. This usually happens when you negotiate on important issues and you don’t have an identical position on everything,” said the G17 Plus official. Milosavljevic said that he was not certain whether the LDP’s conditions were essential for constituting a city government, and that depoliticization of local authorities was “simply not possible.” He said that the alternative to hold new local elections was realistic, and agreed with the principle that quality and proficiency should override politics, but to say that the best experts never belonged to any party “would be total nonsense.“ However, Milosavljevic said that new elections in the capital would not be a good message to citizens, and emphasized that the final outcome of negotiations on the Belgrade government did not depend exclusively on one side. Asked to state his party’s position on the reconciliation between the Democratic Party (DS) and the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), Milosavljevic said that the SPS understood its historical chance to be on the side of the pro-European bloc and help guide Serbia to the EU. The city assembly is due to elect a mayor and its executive bodies by August 22 . Failing this, a temporary administration will be imposed and new local elections will be called.

Belgrade: DS, SPS harmonize principles

The Democratic Party’s (DS) city board announced today that one of the key principles would be to “professionalize the work of the capital’s public enterprises,” meaning that at least half of the companies’ directors would not be non-party members.

The two coalitions also agreed to improve the transparency of the work of the Public Procurement Office, meaning that in future, citizens and other interested parties would have full access to all public procurements by the city authorities, read a statement.

The statement added that the agreed principles would be presented in direct talks with representatives of the LDP, which is expected to support the minority government formed by the DS and Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) coalitions.

The LDP earlier announced that it would support the minority government only if the public enterprises in the capital became depoliticized.

The deadline for the election of a new local government expires on Friday.

G17 confident of new Belgrade govt.

The health minister expects the constitutive session of the Belgrade Assembly to be scheduled before the deadline.

Under the law, the Belgrade local government has to be constituted by August 22.

Tomica Milosavljević, who is also head of G17 Plus’s Belgrade board, told Radio B92 that he thought that the Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) calls for depoliticization within the city’s authorities were nothing but political rhetoric.

"Negotiations are ongoing and they have their ups and downs. This usually happens when you negotiate on important issues and you don’t have an identical position on everything,” said the G17 Plus official.

Milosavljević said that he was not certain whether the LDP’s conditions were essential for constituting a city government, and that depoliticization of local authorities was “simply not possible.”

He said that the alternative to hold new local elections was realistic, and agreed with the principle that quality and proficiency should override politics, but to say that the best experts never belonged to any party “would be total nonsense.“

However, Milosavljević said that new elections in the capital would not be a good message to citizens, and emphasized that the final outcome of negotiations on the Belgrade government did not depend exclusively on one side.

Asked to state his party’s position on the reconciliation between the Democratic Party (DS) and the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), Milosavljević said that the SPS understood its historical chance to be on the side of the pro-European bloc and help guide Serbia to the EU.

The city assembly is due to elect a mayor and its executive bodies by August 22 . Failing this, a temporary administration will be imposed and new local elections will be called.