Nikolić calls on opposition to unite

Tomislav Nikolic will propose to Vojislav Kostunica and Velimir Ilic joining forces at the next elections. The SRS deputy leader is convinced that on Tuesday, the day of the next parliamentary session, the battle against the ruling coalition will begin in earnest. Nikolic calls on opposition to unite In an interview with daily Vecernje Novosti, he said that the parliamentary session would begin with the question of who killed demonstrator Ranko Panic, as well as the arrest of Radovan Karadzic. Nikolic said that the session could continue either once a report was published on Karadzic and the meeting in Belgrade, or an emergency session could be called with one item on the agenda—ratification of the gas deal with Russia. According to the SRS deputy leader, the session would be over in an hour, and then the Radicals could set their own themes. In response to reports that the ruling coalition could prevent obstruction of parliament’s work, he said that “it isn’t the first time that democracy in parliament has been suppressed and that they’ve threatened us.“ Nikolic said that SRS MPs had been expelled from the parliamentary chamber in the past, and that if it happened again, he would try to be the last of 82 MPs. Asked what would then happen, the SRS deputy leader replied that he would bring the people in front of parliament, “and then it’s a question of whether there will be any session at all.“ “We’d have no other way to fight. And remember how they fought when much less injustice was done to them,“ he added. Nikolic said that it was completely clear that the opposition should cooperate closely, as that way they would be harder to break, and this would be “the best response to the dictatorship“ of Boris Tadic. The SRS deputy leader said that he was convinced that the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) and New Serbia (NS) would not be swallowed up in the SRS by working together, and that every party would preserve its own identity. “I will propose that we stand on one list, and it’s all the same to me whether the list is headed by the SRS. That way, we’d show Serbia that a road to recovery exists. If NS, after years of cooperation with Kostunica, hasn’t been swallowed by his party, why would the DSS be swallowed up by the SRS by cooperating with us,“ he pointed out. Nikolic said that he was unsure whether the new government would fall quickly. The SRS deputy leader said that he would seek to bring Interior Minister Ivica Dacic to account “for all the teargas and smoke bombs that they threw at us. Dacic began his mandate as minister by killing a man and we’ll call him to account.“ “We filmed it. We’ll ask those who dare to screen it. You’ll see, among other things, a policeman beating [SRS Secretary-General] Aleksandar Vucic senseless as he’s lying on the ground.“ Tomislav Nikolic (FoNet, archive)

Nikolić calls on opposition to unite

In an interview with daily Večernje Novosti, he said that the parliamentary session would begin with the question of who killed demonstrator Ranko Panić, as well as the arrest of Radovan Karadžić.

Nikolić said that the session could continue either once a report was published on Karadžić and the meeting in Belgrade, or an emergency session could be called with one item on the agenda—ratification of the gas deal with Russia.

According to the SRS deputy leader, the session would be over in an hour, and then the Radicals could set their own themes.

In response to reports that the ruling coalition could prevent obstruction of parliament’s work, he said that “it isn’t the first time that democracy in parliament has been suppressed and that they’ve threatened us.“

Nikolić said that SRS MPs had been expelled from the parliamentary chamber in the past, and that if it happened again, he would try to be the last of 82 MPs.

Asked what would then happen, the SRS deputy leader replied that he would bring the people in front of parliament, “and then it’s a question of whether there will be any session at all.“

“We’d have no other way to fight. And remember how they fought when much less injustice was done to them,“ he added.

Nikolić said that it was completely clear that the opposition should cooperate closely, as that way they would be harder to break, and this would be “the best response to the dictatorship“ of Boris Tadić.

The SRS deputy leader said that he was convinced that the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) and New Serbia (NS) would not be swallowed up in the SRS by working together, and that every party would preserve its own identity.

“I will propose that we stand on one list, and it’s all the same to me whether the list is headed by the SRS. That way, we’d show Serbia that a road to recovery exists. If NS, after years of cooperation with Koštunica, hasn’t been swallowed by his party, why would the DSS be swallowed up by the SRS by cooperating with us,“ he pointed out.

Nikolić said that he was unsure whether the new government would fall quickly.

The SRS deputy leader said that he would seek to bring Interior Minister Ivica Dačić to account “for all the teargas and smoke bombs that they threw at us. Dačić began his mandate as minister by killing a man and we’ll call him to account.“

“We filmed it. We’ll ask those who dare to screen it. You’ll see, among other things, a policeman beating [SRS Secretary-General] Aleksandar Vučić senseless as he’s lying on the ground.“