Minister "surprised" by government's performance

BELGRADE The cabinet is functioning without problems - "and considering how heterogeneous the coalition is, it's surprising it all works so well," says Rasim Ljajic. "Of course, it's not the land of milk and honey, it's logical that at this time and with challenges such as they are, misunderstandings do occur, but we solve them easily," the minister of trade and leader of the SDPS party told B92. Minister "surprised" by government's performance According to him, the government has "only one prime minister", while it is "logical" that the party that has the most ministers and MPs also wields the most influence. Ljajic noted that "if the 'wiretapping affair' was the biggest that the government has had to deal with - then the government will last long": "I don't understand the essence of the problem. I myself was being wiretapped in 2001, when I was dealing with problems in southern Serbia. Now, I don't know - I'm using my phone as I did before, and will replace it for other reasons, because I cannot cope with all the demands that are arriving," he was quoted as saying. Asked to comment on his decision to join the now ruling coalition and leave his long-time political partners the Democrats (DS) behind, Lajic said he did that in order to save his own party: "It's still early days for final appraisals of whether that was a good decision. From this distance, our joining the government probably made sense, there was a real danger that we would lose people and MPs. People gather around ideals, common goals and platforms - but let's be honest, there's a big crisis, there's evil in the people, who will manage to withstand the pressure. If this government works well then the decision was good, if not, the decision was bad." Ljajic also stated that he hoped that his party would help do what it was created for - "accelerate EU integrations, solve the Kosovo problem, and raise the economy to the level where it will be possible to say that it had recovered". "As far as the party's concerned, the decision (to join the government) appears to have been a good one, I had to preserve a young party that had its potential. As far as I'm concerned, it was bad, because I lost some of my moral credibility after the elections." He also addressed a recent controversy in his hometown of Novi Pazar in southwestern Serbia, where a memorial plaque was put up to honor Acif Efendija - a WW2 Muslim Nazi collaborator: "This is a folly that only harmed Novi Pazar and people from Novi Pazar, somebody needed it as cheap publicity. The government has not given up on its decision to remove (the plaque), the town's administration chief has been ordered to remove it - and if not, procedures will be launched." Rasim Ljajic (B92) B92

Minister "surprised" by government's performance

According to him, the government has "only one prime minister", while it is "logical" that the party that has the most ministers and MPs also wields the most influence.

Ljajić noted that "if the 'wiretapping affair' was the biggest that the government has had to deal with - then the government will last long":

"I don't understand the essence of the problem. I myself was being wiretapped in 2001, when I was dealing with problems in southern Serbia. Now, I don't know - I'm using my phone as I did before, and will replace it for other reasons, because I cannot cope with all the demands that are arriving," he was quoted as saying.

Asked to comment on his decision to join the now ruling coalition and leave his long-time political partners the Democrats (DS) behind, Lajić said he did that in order to save his own party:

"It's still early days for final appraisals of whether that was a good decision. From this distance, our joining the government probably made sense, there was a real danger that we would lose people and MPs. People gather around ideals, common goals and platforms - but let's be honest, there's a big crisis, there's evil in the people, who will manage to withstand the pressure. If this government works well then the decision was good, if not, the decision was bad."

Ljajić also stated that he hoped that his party would help do what it was created for - "accelerate EU integrations, solve the Kosovo problem, and raise the economy to the level where it will be possible to say that it had recovered".

"As far as the party's concerned, the decision (to join the government) appears to have been a good one, I had to preserve a young party that had its potential. As far as I'm concerned, it was bad, because I lost some of my moral credibility after the elections."

He also addressed a recent controversy in his hometown of Novi Pazar in southwestern Serbia, where a memorial plaque was put up to honor Aćif Efendija - a WW2 Muslim Nazi collaborator:

"This is a folly that only harmed Novi Pazar and people from Novi Pazar, somebody needed it as cheap publicity. The government has not given up on its decision to remove (the plaque), the town's administration chief has been ordered to remove it - and if not, procedures will be launched."