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| SPS: Belgrade decision irreversible |
| 30 May 2008 | 09:28 -> 15:58
| Source:
B92, Beta, Tanjug |
BELGRADE --
SPS official Aleksandar Antić claims there is no chance of persuading his party to change its decision about constituting a local government in Belgrade.
 | The Belgrade deal is signed (FoNet)
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"We are all honorable people, and there’s no way anyone can make us change our minds, so if they intend to use that extra month for that, I can tell them that they are just wasting not only their time, but the time of Belgraders as well,” said Antić in front of Belgrade City Hall.
Representatives from the Serb Radical Party (SRS), Democratic Party of Serbia-New Serbia (DSS-NS), and the coalition gathered around the SPS were holding a press conference in front of the City Hall to call on Acting Mayor of Belgrade Zoran Alimpić to change his decision to postpone the city assembly’s constitutive session until July 14.
Antić said that Associated Pensioners' Party (PUPS) leader Jovan Krkobabić had not attended the press conference as he had been tied up at his party’s main board boarding.
The SPS official did not want to answer questions about media speculation concerning the possible break-up of the coalition. He also refused to say whether PUPS and United Serbia (JS) would be able to retain their mandates if they decided to leave the coalition.
"Our coalition is in perfect working order, thanks for asking. Why should we speak about theoretical things, if I tell you that relations in our coalition are splendid, and that there is simply no need for any of that kind of speculation,” Antić insisted.
When asked whether his party had done anything to protect United Serbia leader Dragan Marković, who claimed earlier that he had been pressured by State Security, he said that the SPS was opposed to any kind of pressure during negotiations.
Koštunica: Democracy being undermined
Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica (DSS) says the decision to hold the constitutive session of the Belgrade assembly on July 14 undermines democratic order.
He said that the move threatened to plunge Serbia into a deep crisis.
“The irresponsible decision to try and stop the election of a new Belgrade government undermines democratic order in the country, and threatens state institutions. Such willfulness and usurpation of power can only push Serbia into a great crisis,” Koštunica told Tanjug.
He said that “all opponents of democracy have always justified its destruction with supposedly higher values and goals,” adding that now, “with their mouths full of Europe, they are violating the basic tenet of democracy that a majority constitutes a government in the eyes of the law.”
“Can you think of anywhere else in Europe where a parliamentary session is not called because someone objects to the majority in question,” wondered Koštunica.
The prime minister added that he did not believe “anyone in Serbia who fights for democracy and who honestly respects democracy can approve of such a decision.”
“In democratic states the only democratic government is the one formed in parliament with the majority of votes. Anything else is oppression, ignoring the will of the citizens, and a usurpation of power, regardless of the high and mighty reasons they may cite,” Koštunica said, adding that “no power is worth endangering democracy for.”
Meanwhile, the newly-formed Belgrade coalition of the SRS, SPS, and DSS has said it will call for an urgent meeting with Municipal President Zoran Alimpić (Democratic Party) on Monday to persuade him to alter his decision to call the city assembly’s first session for July 14.
Coalition representatives claim that they attempted to contact Alimpić yesterday, but that he did not return their calls.
According to the coalition’s candidate for mayor, Aleksandar Vučić, Alimpić’s decision to call the first session for July 14 contravened the Constitution, the law, and the City Statute, and that he had chosen that date on the basis of an article of the City Statute that is used for introducing emergency measures, not for constituting a newly-elected assembly.
DSS spokesman Andreja Mladenović said that Alimpić was obliged to call the session within the legally stipulated time frame, “and not to drag Belgrade into a crisis like this.“
SPS official Aleksandar Antić said that the coalition was not fighting for power, but for democracy and for the election results to be respected.
An outdoor press conference was attended by dozens of SRS supporters carrying banners with messages such as “Belgrade Free After 67 Years” and “Yellows Out”.
"Anti-democratic move by worried people"
SPS official Žarko Obradović says the decision to call the first session of the Belgrade assembly on July 14 is an “anti-democratic move by worried people.“
“If it’s been settled that three parties have agreed and signed a coalition agreement, and have made up a parliamentary majority, then setting a session 46 days later indicates that they’re buying time to do something that could bring that coalition into doubt, or to destroy traces of something that’s taking place in the city,“ Obradović told B92 Info.
Asked who was closer to the truth—Serb Radical Party (SRS) deputy leader Tomislav Nikolić who says formation of a republic government is close, or Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) leader Ivica Dačić who says talks between the SRS, Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) and SPS are continuing— Obradović said that both should be believed.
SRS official Dragan Todorović said that he was sure that the coalition agreement between the Radicals, Socialists and DSS would soon be confirmed in the city assembly.
Todorović told the same program that according to the Law on the Capital, a third of councilors had the right to demand a session of the city assembly, and that this would be done.
Speaking of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA), Obradović said that the SPS did not oppose the agreement, but the fact was that it was necessary to clarify the contents of that agreement, with regards to Serbia’s commitments, what the European path entailed, and what criteria Serbia had to meet.
He said that SRS, DSS, and SPS officials had spoken, and that they would look at the contents of all issues, that one included, and added that a compromise was possible.
Meanwhile, Todorović said that the SRS was sure that the SAA concealed a hidden trap, to the effect that by signing it, Serbia was tacitly recognizing Kosovo independence.
“There will be absolutely acceptance of the SAA unless the EU inserts one more sentence—a sentence saying that Kosovo is a part of Serbia,“ he said, adding that no problem was more pressing to the state than that of Kosovo.
“If it comes to parliament, I’m in favor of annulling that agreement as an agreement that [Vuk] Drašković signed with NATO,“ insisted the SRS official.
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