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| Government teetering on brink of collapse |
| 7 March 2008 | 10:14 -> 20:51
| Source:
B92, Beta |
BELGRADE --
Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica said today that the government is in a deep crisis.
 | The prime minister (FoNet, archive)
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Koštunica added that he “no longer had confidence in the sincerity of our coalition partners, the Democratic Party and G17 Plus, to battle to preserve Kosovo.“
“The government is in a deep crisis, as there has not been a readiness to take decisions to the effect that we strongly insist that Serbia can become an EU member only as an intact country with Kosovo,“ he told Tanjug.
The prime minister, who is the leader of the DSS; said that “the parliamentary parties must agree in the next few days on a way out of this crisis.“
The government, put together as the legal deadline was looming in May last year, includes the Democratic Party (DS), the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), New Serbia (NS) and G17 Plus.
Three scenarios are now possible in case the cabinet cannot continue: new elections, a new coalition government forged by the Radicals (SRS) and the DSS, and a DSS minority government supported by the Radicals.
But Boris Tadić's Democrats say that the will of the voters will be "abused" if a new parliamentary majority is established.
"The votes all the ruling parties have were gained in favor of an undisputable goal, th accelerated European integration. If someone were to change their goal, then the solution to the political crisis is in elections," DS whip Nada Kolundžija said.
Meanwhile, Infrastructure Minister and NS leader Velimir Ilić today asked Tadić to "remove Mlađan Dinkić from the cabinet, because he killed the government and ripped its hear out".
"Elections are on the horizon, and they will be here fast. That will be the only permanent solution considering that a compromise between the sides in conflict is impossible, and they are entrenched in their positions," Ilić described the state of affairs in the government teetering on the brink of collapse.
He put the blame for this squarely on the shoulders of G17 Plus leader Mlađan Dinkić, who was heard referring to his colleagues from the DSS-NS coalition as "lunatics", according to Ilić.
Tadić must now explain whether Dinkić is his protégé, "since he openly brags about this", the minister said, and added:
"I'm listening and I can't believe. The man [Dinkić] is saying in public things that are within the jurisdiction of the premier and the president, and he has no clue. Some skiing resort near Jagodina is more important to him than Corridor [10]. This failed skier spent a million euros on a little street in Loznica. I don't mind, but he should pay with his own money," Ilić lashed out.
"They can now call for elections, but we can also suggest a reconstruction of the government. To freshen it up a little, to throw Dinkić out and carry on," the minister, known for his blunt public pronouncements, said.
Asked whether the Radicals would provide for this "freshening up", Ilić said that "anything's possible, as long as it moves the country forward".
Speaking for B92 TV this evening, DSS whip Miloš Aligrudić said that the conflict within the government has escalated, and that it is in everyone's interest to "end the agony as soon as possible".
There are several ways out of the crisis, he said, one of them being for Brussels to declare itself whether or not it recognizes Serbia in its borders.
Otherwise, Aligrudić added, organizing a referendum on the issue is a legitimate move.
"If that is impossible, if they leave us in this problem, which I think is an extreme problem for Serbia, another way, utterly legitimate and in line with the constitution, is a referendum where we will state our position on this issue, and specify it," he said.
Earlier today, Minister without Portfolio Dragan Đilas (DS) has called on the Democratic Party of Serbia to decide whether it wants to be in a coalition with the Democratic Party or the Radicals.
“This kind of situation most affects Serbia’s citizens who need stability,” Đilas told daily Večernje Novosti.
He said that the DS wanted to preserve the government “as long as it leads Serbia towards Europe.”
Asked when the best time for holding early parliamentary elections would be, and whether that was the best solution, Đilas said that the best moment was when Serbia received an offer from the European Union to sign the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA).
“If the DSS won’t sign the SAA, then we will have to have elections, which will be a referendum at the same time between Europe and isolation,” the minister explained.
As far as the SRS proposed resolution was concerned, Đilas said that such a document could not be binding for the government.
He said that the resolution focused on foreign policy, “which is not within parliament’s jurisdiction.”
Asked whether he believed that a compromise between the DS and DSS was possible, Đilas said that he always believed in “compromise and common sense.”
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