LDP: Govt. must protect Pride Parade

Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leader Cedomir Jovanovic has appealed to PM Mirko Cvetkovic to ensure that the govt. adopts a clear position on the Pride Parade. In a letter, Jovanovic states that Cvetkovic has no right to remain silent before the needs of the country and society that he has been elected to protect. LDP: Govt. must protect Pride Parade He adds that this problem goes far deeper than the extremist groups that are threatening violence because behind them stand organized political forces. The LDP leader warns Cvetkovic that “when the prime minister stays silent, then it will not be easy for the police, judges, prosecutors and others who apply the law to do so consistently.” “Only after your decision can the government’s ministries effectively enforce what the laws that we adopted together enjoin them to do, including the Anti-Discrimination Law, which was adopted thanks to the LDP, as there was insufficient courage within the ruling coalition. Application of the law was also a condition of our support, without which there would have been no law. It is time to show that you were serious. Not because of the LDP, but because of those whose rights are threatened. That is why the state’s message that the government will send from its meeting today must state: 'Serbia is a free country, all who live there are equal. The state and its institutions will protect one and all from every kind of discrimination, and eradicate extremists and violent policies from our lives,' reads the letter. The LDP expects an instant reaction "as the government has no right to place the interests of the coalition above the interests of society, and particularly not to highlight the interests of anti-European, dark and arcane policies that will destroy our future." Jovanovic states that bullies have thus far abused both the state and the Church, because the state has bowed before them. “That is what it was like 20 years ago, when in Serbia and outside it, people’s lives and everything they had were taken just because of their ethnic origin. It was no different when, just a year ago, people suffered because of their ethnicity and political orientation at the hands of frenzied young men who ran riot through half the capital city. At the time Kostunica’s excuse was that he was in power, today there can be no leniency shown to these policies, whose militant wings and street thugs are those groups who plan to wreak havoc on Sunday,” the letter continues. The LDP leader warns that now is not the time for appeals to the organizers to bow to the organized mob, and that the authorities need to take action against those who are threatening violence. The prime minister is reminded that he is duty-bound to show the government’s ability to uphold freedoms, stating that that is his Constitutional, political and human obligation, and that in that undertaking, he can count on the LDP’s support. Cedomir Jovanovic (FoNet, archive)

LDP: Govt. must protect Pride Parade

He adds that this problem goes far deeper than the extremist groups that are threatening violence because behind them stand organized political forces.

The LDP leader warns Cvetković that “when the prime minister stays silent, then it will not be easy for the police, judges, prosecutors and others who apply the law to do so consistently.”

“Only after your decision can the government’s ministries effectively enforce what the laws that we adopted together enjoin them to do, including the Anti-Discrimination Law, which was adopted thanks to the LDP, as there was insufficient courage within the ruling coalition. Application of the law was also a condition of our support, without which there would have been no law. It is time to show that you were serious. Not because of the LDP, but because of those whose rights are threatened. That is why the state’s message that the government will send from its meeting today must state: 'Serbia is a free country, all who live there are equal. The state and its institutions will protect one and all from every kind of discrimination, and eradicate extremists and violent policies from our lives,' reads the letter.

The LDP expects an instant reaction "as the government has no right to place the interests of the coalition above the interests of society, and particularly not to highlight the interests of anti-European, dark and arcane policies that will destroy our future."

Jovanović states that bullies have thus far abused both the state and the Church, because the state has bowed before them.

“That is what it was like 20 years ago, when in Serbia and outside it, people’s lives and everything they had were taken just because of their ethnic origin. It was no different when, just a year ago, people suffered because of their ethnicity and political orientation at the hands of frenzied young men who ran riot through half the capital city. At the time Koštunica’s excuse was that he was in power, today there can be no leniency shown to these policies, whose militant wings and street thugs are those groups who plan to wreak havoc on Sunday,” the letter continues.

The LDP leader warns that now is not the time for appeals to the organizers to bow to the organized mob, and that the authorities need to take action against those who are threatening violence. The prime minister is reminded that he is duty-bound to show the government’s ability to uphold freedoms, stating that that is his Constitutional, political and human obligation, and that in that undertaking, he can count on the LDP’s support.