President demands cabinet session; PM refuses

President Boris Tadic called on Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica to hold a regular government session tomorrow. The wrangling over whether to convene the parliament or the cabinet first continued this evening, with Kostunica rejecting Tadic's request. President demands cabinet session; PM refuses The increasingly shaky coalition is made up of Tadic's Democrats (DS), who have a majority in the government, and Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), which has support from more MPs in parliament. The crisis flared up Monday just one day after Tadic was re-elected without the endorsement from Kostunica. The European Union simultaneously decided to approve plans to send its mission to Kosovo, and sent the text of a political agreement it offered to Serbia, scheduled to be signed on Feb.7. While both the DS and DSS reject the possibility to accept any mission without prior UN approval, the Democrats are in favor of signing the agreement. The DSS, however, says that this would be tantamount to the recognition of the province's independence. The EU has in the meantime postponed the signing, but the two top Serbian leaders continue the dispute, originally related to holding the government session in time for Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic to be authorized to sign the deal in Brussels. Now Tadic says Kostunica's claim that parliament must convene since the situation is critical for the state, makes it "natural for the government to meet" under such circumstances. "In order to maintain the stability of the country, it is necessary for all state institutions to do their job and no one must obstruct this for the sake of their own partisan positions," a statement from the president's cabinet said. "The government must work in the interest of the citizens. It is the tool of executive authority and the constitution determines that it adopts and executes policies. The functioning of the government cannot depend on any one person's will, nor can the parliament be a substitution for the government," Tadic said. He also reminded that the law obligates the parliament to debate only those questions and acts sent by the government. Kostunica, however, seemed unconvinced, and beside commenting that the cabinet is "deeply divided on the issue", he repeated that Speaker Oliver Dulic, DS, has a "constitutional obligation" to schedule a parliament session dedicated to EU plans to send its mission to Kosovo. The Serbian government holds regular meetings each Thursday. The latest news carried by agencies say that the cabinet's secretary, who distributes invitations to ministers, has confirmed that no session has been scheduled for tomorrow. Earlier in the afternoon, Bozidar Djelic and 16 ministers urged the prime minister to call a cabinet meeting. “Dear Prime Minister, we ask that in line with Article 52, Paragraph 1 of the Government’s Rules of Procedure, you call a cabinet meeting for Thursday, February 7, 2008, where the government will, among other things, decide on the transitional political agreement on cooperation between the European Union and its member-states and the Republic of Serbia,” reads a request from the ministers. At the session, a decision should also be taken on a motion from a certain number of MPs for an emergency session of parliament to be called. Article 52, paragraph 1 stipulates that the prime minister calls cabinet meetings in written form, 24 hours in advance. The request was signed by Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic and 16 ministers from the Democratic Party (DS) and G17 Plus - Vuk Jeremic, Dragan Sutanovac, Mirko Cvetkovic, Dusan Petrovic, Milan Markovic, Slobodan Milosavljevic, Mladjan Dinkic, Aleksandra Smiljanic, Rasim Ljajic, Ana Pesikan, Sasa Dragin, Snezana Samardzic Markovic, Vojislav Brajovic, Tomica MIlosavljevic, Milica Cubrilo and Dragan Djilas. The government has a prime minister, a deputy prime minister and 23 ministers. Of 25 members altogether, 13 are from the ranks of the DS, 4 from G17 Plus, seven from the Democratic Party of Serbia, and one from New Serbia. (B92) Kostunica warns of threat to constitutional order Previously Wednesday, Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica has once again called for parliament to convene. Kostunica said that obstruction of the parliament’s work would pose a threat to constitutional order. In a statement delivered to Beta, the prime minister said that the political instability in the country represented the greatest danger to the continued preservation of constitutional order, at a time when the Kosovo independence declaration was believed to be just days away. “And the most serious form of instability is the obstruction of the National Parliament’s work, trivializing and ignoring its acts, particularly resolutions passed in line with the Constitution and international law, that pertain to the defense of Serbia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,“ read the statement. Kostunica said that it was necessary for parliament to hold a session immediately “and confirm national unity, which would be the best way of maintaining the country’s stability, respect for the Constitution and the protection of constitutional order.“ On Tuesday, Parliamentary Speaker Oliver Dulic scheduled whip consultations on an extraordinary parliamentary session to be held on Feb. 11. Dulic told journalists that parliament, as before, would wait for the government to give its opinion on the initiative by the Democratic Party of Serbia and the New Serbia party and appoint ministers who would consult with the whips. Dulic added that Kosovo was a very important topic, which is why it would be good for the document to be passed with a consensus or at least in agreement with the biggest caucuses. The Democratic Party of Serbia-New Serbia coalition proposed earlier on Feb. 5 the urgent calling of an extraordinary parliamentary session to debate a decision on the announced dispatch of a European Union mission to Kosovo. Kostunica described the political agreement offered to Serbia by the EU as "deception," while Dulic said he saw no reason to rush with scheduling the session before the government had given its opinion on the proposal, stating that parliament had operated in this way until now. The Democratic Party of Serbia and the New Serbia have proposed that parliament adopt a text describing the decision to dispatch an EU mission to Kosovo as "illegal" and "the crudest violation" of Resolution 1244, the UN Charter and the Constitution of Serbia. The text proposes that the parliament should order the government "to sign neither the interim political agreement on cooperation between the EU and its members nor the agreement on stabilization and association." According to the text, the two agreements should not be signed until the EU completely removes the reasons why the government was ordered not to sign the said documents. Dulic said it was not necessary for parliament to ratify the political agreement with the EU, and that ratification was needed for the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA).

President demands cabinet session; PM refuses

The increasingly shaky coalition is made up of Tadić's Democrats (DS), who have a majority in the government, and Koštunica's Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), which has support from more MPs in parliament.

The crisis flared up Monday just one day after Tadić was re-elected without the endorsement from Koštunica. The European Union simultaneously decided to approve plans to send its mission to Kosovo, and sent the text of a political agreement it offered to Serbia, scheduled to be signed on Feb.7.

While both the DS and DSS reject the possibility to accept any mission without prior UN approval, the Democrats are in favor of signing the agreement. The DSS, however, says that this would be tantamount to the recognition of the province's independence.

The EU has in the meantime postponed the signing, but the two top Serbian leaders continue the dispute, originally related to holding the government session in time for Deputy Prime Minister Božidar Đelić to be authorized to sign the deal in Brussels.

Now Tadić says Koštunica's claim that parliament must convene since the situation is critical for the state, makes it "natural for the government to meet" under such circumstances.

"In order to maintain the stability of the country, it is necessary for all state institutions to do their job and no one must obstruct this for the sake of their own partisan positions," a statement from the president's cabinet said.

"The government must work in the interest of the citizens. It is the tool of executive authority and the constitution determines that it adopts and executes policies. The functioning of the government cannot depend on any one person's will, nor can the parliament be a substitution for the government," Tadić said.

He also reminded that the law obligates the parliament to debate only those questions and acts sent by the government.

Koštunica, however, seemed unconvinced, and beside commenting that the cabinet is "deeply divided on the issue", he repeated that Speaker Oliver Dulić, DS, has a "constitutional obligation" to schedule a parliament session dedicated to EU plans to send its mission to Kosovo.

The Serbian government holds regular meetings each Thursday. The latest news carried by agencies say that the cabinet's secretary, who distributes invitations to ministers, has confirmed that no session has been scheduled for tomorrow.

Earlier in the afternoon, Božidar Đelić and 16 ministers urged the prime minister to call a cabinet meeting.

“Dear Prime Minister, we ask that in line with Article 52, Paragraph 1 of the Government’s Rules of Procedure, you call a cabinet meeting for Thursday, February 7, 2008, where the government will, among other things, decide on the transitional political agreement on cooperation between the European Union and its member-states and the Republic of Serbia,” reads a request from the ministers.

At the session, a decision should also be taken on a motion from a certain number of MPs for an emergency session of parliament to be called.

Article 52, paragraph 1 stipulates that the prime minister calls cabinet meetings in written form, 24 hours in advance.

The request was signed by Deputy Prime Minister Božidar Đelić and 16 ministers from the Democratic Party (DS) and G17 Plus - Vuk Jeremić, Dragan Šutanovac, Mirko Cvetković, Dušan Petrović, Milan Marković, Slobodan Milosavljević, Mlađan Dinkić, Aleksandra Smiljanić, Rasim Ljajić, Ana Pešikan, Saša Dragin, Snežana Samardžić Marković, Vojislav Brajović, Tomica MIlosavljević, Milica Čubrilo and Dragan Đilas.

The government has a prime minister, a deputy prime minister and 23 ministers.

Of 25 members altogether, 13 are from the ranks of the DS, 4 from G17 Plus, seven from the Democratic Party of Serbia, and one from New Serbia.

Koštunica warns of threat to constitutional order

Previously Wednesday, Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica has once again called for parliament to convene.

Koštunica said that obstruction of the parliament’s work would pose a threat to constitutional order.

In a statement delivered to Beta, the prime minister said that the political instability in the country represented the greatest danger to the continued preservation of constitutional order, at a time when the Kosovo independence declaration was believed to be just days away.

“And the most serious form of instability is the obstruction of the National Parliament’s work, trivializing and ignoring its acts, particularly resolutions passed in line with the Constitution and international law, that pertain to the defense of Serbia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,“ read the statement.

Koštunica said that it was necessary for parliament to hold a session immediately “and confirm national unity, which would be the best way of maintaining the country’s stability, respect for the Constitution and the protection of constitutional order.“

On Tuesday, Parliamentary Speaker Oliver Dulić scheduled whip consultations on an extraordinary parliamentary session to be held on Feb. 11.

Dulić told journalists that parliament, as before, would wait for the government to give its opinion on the initiative by the Democratic Party of Serbia and the New Serbia party and appoint ministers who would consult with the whips.

Dulić added that Kosovo was a very important topic, which is why it would be good for the document to be passed with a consensus or at least in agreement with the biggest caucuses.

The Democratic Party of Serbia-New Serbia coalition proposed earlier on Feb. 5 the urgent calling of an extraordinary parliamentary session to debate a decision on the announced dispatch of a European Union mission to Kosovo.

Koštunica described the political agreement offered to Serbia by the EU as "deception," while Dulić said he saw no reason to rush with scheduling the session before the government had given its opinion on the proposal, stating that parliament had operated in this way until now.

The Democratic Party of Serbia and the New Serbia have proposed that parliament adopt a text describing the decision to dispatch an EU mission to Kosovo as "illegal" and "the crudest violation" of Resolution 1244, the UN Charter and the Constitution of Serbia.

The text proposes that the parliament should order the government "to sign neither the interim political agreement on cooperation between the EU and its members nor the agreement on stabilization and association."

According to the text, the two agreements should not be signed until the EU completely removes the reasons why the government was ordered not to sign the said documents.

Dulić said it was not necessary for parliament to ratify the political agreement with the EU, and that ratification was needed for the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA).