"No pension cuts until PM says so"

"No pension cuts until PM says so"

Dačić was commenting on a statement made by Finance Minister Lazar Krstić, who said this measure was possible by the end of the year.

"If the prime minister said there would be no reduction of pensions, a minister cannot say there would be. Pension cuts will happen when the prime minister says so and when the government decides," Dačić told the public broadcaster RTS.

Politics, he then observed, is a profession like any other - "and those who are not experts in politics, should respect those who are, and the prime minister is an expert in the field because he won 48 percent of the vote."

Dačić went on to say that the finance minister has the right to present the views of the government, rather than his own.

"It's not up to ministers to interpret what will or will not happen, it's up to the prime minister," he added. "There's no discussion. I understand the experts, but they need to learn some politics."

Dačić noted that Krstić "did not go to the polls, Vučić did" - and Vučić "said what he had to say in his expose (before parliament)."

"That expose is the Holy Scripture for this government. Those who do not like it are free to leave the government," said Dačić.

As for "the rotation of ministers" - when Zorana Mihajlović and Aleksandar Antić switched portfolios in the new cabinet - Dačić said that was "the prime minister's idea."

Asked whether the fact Antić was now energy minister "implied that Dušan Bajatović would remain at the helm of Srbijagasa," Dačić said he "did not discuss this with the prime minister" and that "no coalition agreement was signed."

"Vučić has given us (the SPS party) more than someone would ask for in this situation," said Dačić, and sent a message to his party colleagues "who do not like it" that they can "join the opposition."

When it comes to the practice of public sector hirings along partisan lines, Dačić said he was in favor of "professionalization."

"I'm not asking for any directors, and I'm sick of the ones we had," said the SPS leader and Serbia's new deputy PM and foreign minister..