Reshuffle better than early elections, minister says

BELGRADE A government reshuffle is at the moment a much better, more responsible and more realistic solution than early elections, Mladjan Dinkic says. The finance and economy minister added that it was clear that not all ministers managed to “fit in” properly. Reshuffle better than early elections, minister says Dinkic told daily Vecernje novosti that he was ready to start serious negotiations about the reshuffle with coalition partners this month. The United Regions of Serbia (URS) leader stressed that he still believed that chances of early parliamentary election in 2013 were “less than one percent”. “It is quite certain that not all ministers managed to fit in in the work of the new government. Some simply cannot keep up imposed by difficult times. There is a disproportion in results of individuals in the government’s total work. Some are maximally pulling their weight while some are just standing on the sidelines. It is better to do a reshuffle at the start of the mandate than when it is already too late. The URS is absolutely ready to discuss the issue,” he told the daily. When asked if he was ready to inspect the work of cabinet members from his party and maybe replace them, Dinkic said that the URS Presidency had analyzed the work of all their officials and ministers the previous week. “The fact is that one can do better in every ministry, including my own. I am satisfied with results achieved by Deputy PM Suzana Grubjesic and Minister Verica Kalanovic. The URS believes we can talk about everything, including the work of any minister,” he was quoted as saying. Commenting on First Deputy PM Aleksandar Vucic’s statement that he would not rule out early elections, Dinkic said that the elections should be the last option. “A reshuffle is a much more probable solution. Elections are always the last option. They do not contribute to the stability of the economy or the atmosphere for investments, which we need the most now. Of course, the URS would not be surprised by a decision on elections and we would be ready for them. We believe it would be good to have early elections in Belgrade and Vojvodina,” he explained. When asked if he expected Serbia to get a date for the start of the EU accession negotiations bearing in mind difficult negotiations with Pristina, the minister said that the Serbian negotiators had done everything they could. “Our negotiators did everything and I would not blame anyone if we did not get a date. The decision does not depend only on Serbia. Europe needs to show it cares about supporting Belgrade that has creative and compromise solutions or about supporting Albanians who are an obstacle to the agreement. The Serbian side has shown how much we care about continuing the accession. Now we will see how much Europe cares about having us in the EU,” Dinkic concluded. Mladjan Dinkic (Tanjug, file) Vecernje novosti

Reshuffle better than early elections, minister says

Dinkić told daily Večernje novosti that he was ready to start serious negotiations about the reshuffle with coalition partners this month.

The United Regions of Serbia (URS) leader stressed that he still believed that chances of early parliamentary election in 2013 were “less than one percent”.

“It is quite certain that not all ministers managed to fit in in the work of the new government. Some simply cannot keep up imposed by difficult times. There is a disproportion in results of individuals in the government’s total work. Some are maximally pulling their weight while some are just standing on the sidelines. It is better to do a reshuffle at the start of the mandate than when it is already too late. The URS is absolutely ready to discuss the issue,” he told the daily.

When asked if he was ready to inspect the work of cabinet members from his party and maybe replace them, Dinkić said that the URS Presidency had analyzed the work of all their officials and ministers the previous week.

“The fact is that one can do better in every ministry, including my own. I am satisfied with results achieved by Deputy PM Suzana Grubješić and Minister Verica Kalanović. The URS believes we can talk about everything, including the work of any minister,” he was quoted as saying.

Commenting on First Deputy PM Aleksandar Vučić’s statement that he would not rule out early elections, Dinkić said that the elections should be the last option.

“A reshuffle is a much more probable solution. Elections are always the last option. They do not contribute to the stability of the economy or the atmosphere for investments, which we need the most now. Of course, the URS would not be surprised by a decision on elections and we would be ready for them. We believe it would be good to have early elections in Belgrade and Vojvodina,” he explained.

When asked if he expected Serbia to get a date for the start of the EU accession negotiations bearing in mind difficult negotiations with Priština, the minister said that the Serbian negotiators had done everything they could.

“Our negotiators did everything and I would not blame anyone if we did not get a date. The decision does not depend only on Serbia. Europe needs to show it cares about supporting Belgrade that has creative and compromise solutions or about supporting Albanians who are an obstacle to the agreement. The Serbian side has shown how much we care about continuing the accession. Now we will see how much Europe cares about having us in the EU,” Dinkić concluded.