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| Could controversial law topple government? |
| 27 July 2009 | 16:57
| Source:
B92 |
BELGRADE --
There are several days left before the voting on the proposed change to the Law on Information, with some saying that the government could collapse if it fails.
 | The Serbian parliament (Tanjug)
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Parliament Speaker Slavica Đukić-Dejanović, of the ruling Socialists (SPS), said that the fate of the law remains "very much uncertain". Previously, SPS MPs were heard saying they will not support the amendments because "they do not wish to return to the past and be linked to a law that is seen in some parts of society as restrictive".
The SPS was founded and led until his death by Slobodan Milošević, and ruled Serbia throughout the 1990s.
Their pre-election coalition partners from the Pensioners Party (PUPS) first announced that they would vote against the law, but their MP group leader Moma Čolaković today presented a slightly different stance.
“We took the position that it will be a thing of free will for every PUPS MP as far as voting is concerned. However, we will take our final position at the meeting of the MP club with our coalition partners SPS-PUPS-JS,” Čolaković said.
“For now, it is the free will of every MP to vote they way they want. We took a harder stance earlier, but, certain corrections have been made," he stated, and continued that this gives the possibility of people voting "a little differently".
If the changes to the law, proposed by the Cvetković cabinet, fail in parliament, it will mean that the government no longer has a majority.
Besides, some media are speculating that support for law has also an instrument of setting political conditions, and in this context it was said that should their proposal fail, ruling G17 Plus party MPs would not support the remaining 23 laws which the government has put into parliamentary procedures.
G17 MP group chief Suzana Grubješić denied this and said that she is convinced that the government will "pas this test".
“This is really speculation, firstly, that the law won’t passed, and secondly that G17 Plus would set conditions in any way, or more drastically stated, blackmail anyone in the coalition. We never did that and we will not do that this time either,” she said.
“The information law will certainly pass, there will be a big enough majority in the ruling coalition, so the voting for the whole session is absolutely a non-issue,” Grubješić said.
If, however, the government's legislation pertaining to the media scene in Serbia is not adopted, this could have serious consequences, believes political analyst from the Center for Researching Alternatives Srećko Mihajlović.
“If the law does not pass, the government will probably fall. There is a possibility that the government will stay in power, of course, but the experience so far with the work of government and the fall of government tells us that this government will probably not last,” he said.
But Mihajlović wondered "whether this scenario suits anyone", including those parties that are initiating cabinet non-confidence votes.
“In my opinion, this is not good for anyone, expect maybe one party in the opposition. If that is so, the question remains who the parties from the ruling coalition work for, that are practically with their stubborn approach insisting on toppling the government. Obviously, they work for that one part in the opposition,” he charged.
While some ruling coalition parties are still deciding on whether to vote in favor of the law, the opposition Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) has called on the rest of the opposition to be present in parliament and prevent its adoption.
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