Cabinet stalemate continues

Cabinet stalemate continues

“Last week we tried to break the impasse with the DSS even if they continued to insist on Koštunica as the next prime minister. In that case, it’s logical that the DS takes over the major share of portfolios and gains control of defense, economic and finance ministries. If the DSS turned down our demands, we could settle for a minority government we wish to form with all parties that are aware of the time Serbia has so far lost and believe that Serbia can wait no longer,” Đelić said.

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) hasn’t yet commented on the Democrats’ statements regarding a minority government, given that the LDP advocated the concept of a minority government comprised of the DS and the LDP with the backing of the DSS and G17 Plus in it pre-election campaign.

G17 Plus has said the party’s senior council was yet to convene and decide whether it would partake in the minority government.

“Tadić and Koštunica should meet as soon as possible and settle their differences in order to finally reach a definite agreement on the stable democratic majority government Serbia needs at the moment,” G17 Plus officials said.

Nonetheless, following the Democrats’ warnings that the Serb Radical Party (SRS), DSS and NS could agree to form a majority government, the Danas daily has learnt that the DSS already initiated covert talks with the Radicals. The daily reminded that the DSS never actually excluded the possibility of entering post-electoral coalitions with the SRS.

Radicals’ representative Aleksandar Vučić flatly denied claims that his party and the DSS were in any kind of cabinet negotiations, deeming such speculations as “pure nonsensical conjectures made by DS vice president Dušan Petrović.”

The Democrats appealed to the DSS to no longer stall the process and decide who they see as future partners, adding that in case the DSS opted for the SRS “the Democrats would reinvent themselves as a fierce opposition to such a government that could only add to Serbia’s problems.”

What the parties said yesterday?

The Democrats issued a statement Friday warning Serbian citizens that “a possibility of a majority government comprised of the Serb Radical Party (SRS), Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) and New Serbia (NS) emerged,” adding that “a minority Radicals’ government with the backing of the DSS and NS was also an option.”

“Such a government would surely lead Serbia into isolation and paralyze any further development of Serbia in the near future,” the Democrats said in a statement.

DS vice president Dušan Petrović told B92 Friday that President Boris Tadić and caretaker Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica launched a discussion on the possible makeup of the new government led by Koštunica when they last met, adding that the two in the end failed to agree over Koštunica remaining in office.

Petrović, however, evaded a straight answer as to whether the DS could accept Koštunica as a prime minister. He reiterated that “the two largest parties of the democratic bloc were discussing a possible government’s structure in case Koštunica renewed his prime ministerial mandate.”

Petrović added that the Democrats were ready to form a minority government with any of the parties they saw as partners from the beginning of the cabinet talks, including G17 Plus, the coalition gathered around the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the DSS-NS coalition.

DSS vice president Aleksandar Popović said Friday that Tadić and Koštunica discussed the possibility of Koštunica being the next prime minister. He confirmed that the two met Wednesday night and talked “in principle” about the cabinet structure in case Koštunica was offered a premiership mandate. Popović added that “Koštunica didn’t made a final decision whether he would accept to renew the mandate.”

According to B92’s latest findings, the cabinet talks reached an impasse due to the portfolios that so far belonged to outgoing interior minister Dragan Jočić from the DSS and capital investments minister Veimir Ilić, who is also the leader of New Serbia.

The Democrats want their party vice president Dragan Šutanovac to be the next interior minister, while in the scenario of breaking up the capital investments portfolio into three segments, they are asking for the Ministry of Traffic and offering the Construction Ministry to Velimir Ilić.