Nikolić mystified by DSS attacks

Serb Progressive Party leader Tomislav Nikolic has called on DSS counterpart Vojislav Kostunica to state whether the deal between their parties still stands. Nikolic told a press conference that the SNS had been attacked by the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) in recent days, and wondered whether Kostunica had “been on holiday, and he just wasn’t aware of it, or whether he initiated the attacks, so that we can know whether our cooperation deal still stands or not.“ Nikolic mystified by DSS attacks He said that the SNS had been dead against the amendments to the media law that were adopted yesterday. Having voted against it, he said he had tried to persuade the other opposition parties to join the SNS in walking out of the chamber in a sign of protest, “leaving only those who wanted the law to pass.“ The SNS leader said that he did not want to escalate the dispute, but that he had been surprised by DSS whip Milos Aligrudic’s swipe, who “just when the worst possible law had been adopted decided to attack the SNS.“ Nikolic said that his party would be lobbying the Constitutional Court to rule on the constitutionality of the media law, adding that laws could not govern freedoms if they were not consonant with European values—regardless of what the Constitutional Court might ultimately say on the matter. Tomislav Nikolic (FoNet, archive)

Nikolić mystified by DSS attacks

He said that the SNS had been dead against the amendments to the media law that were adopted yesterday. Having voted against it, he said he had tried to persuade the other opposition parties to join the SNS in walking out of the chamber in a sign of protest, “leaving only those who wanted the law to pass.“

The SNS leader said that he did not want to escalate the dispute, but that he had been surprised by DSS whip Miloš Aligrudić’s swipe, who “just when the worst possible law had been adopted decided to attack the SNS.“

Nikolić said that his party would be lobbying the Constitutional Court to rule on the constitutionality of the media law, adding that laws could not govern freedoms if they were not consonant with European values—regardless of what the Constitutional Court might ultimately say on the matter.