Koštunica, Đelić to address media

PM Vojislav Kostunica and Deputy Bozidar Djelic will give a progress report to mark the government’s 100th day in office. Their address next week will be followed those of all the ministries, who will present their own results from the government’s first 100 days. Kostunica, Djelic to address media At the same time, these news conferences will be Kostunica’s first address to the media since the government was formed. Svetlana Logar from the Strategic Marketing Agency told B92 that the fact that the prime minister and certain ministers had not appeared in public, together with the apparent divisions within the cabinet on the issues of NATO and EU cooperation, and the conduct of Infrastructure Minister Velimir Ilic over the Horgos-Pozega highway concessions affair, had all "seriously tarnished the government’s image and dented citizens’ trust in their institutions". "After one hundred days in office nothing has changed. Only 15-16 percent of citizens trust the government and give it a positive rating. What is striking is that the low trust rating has remained at the same level for over three years, since the formation of the previous government in March, 2004," says Logar. Such behaviour on the part of Kostunica and his ministers has meant that consequently citizens do know who is charge of certain ministries, nor even what certain ministers look like. In a B92 survey, some citizens thought Radovan Jelasic was the finance minister, while others thought it was Djelic. Zoran Loncar was in charge of "some ministry", those polled said; they had never heard of Aleksandra Smiljanic; and some names reminded them of actors. Head of the Government Media Office Media Milivoj Mihajlovic thinks that while the fact few people recognize any of the ministers is not good for the government’s image, it is not essential for its future work. "If someone’s doing a bad job, no amount of PR can hide it," says Mihajlovic. Srdjan Djuric, the Kostunica's media adviser, has yet to respond to B92’s inquiries of three days ago as to why, among other things, the prime minister had still not addressed the public, or why his meetings with representatives and businessmen from the Russian Federation had increased in frequency. Kostunica,Djelic, attend cabinet session (FoNet)

Koštunica, Đelić to address media

At the same time, these news conferences will be Koštunica’s first address to the media since the government was formed.

Svetlana Logar from the Strategic Marketing Agency told B92 that the fact that the prime minister and certain ministers had not appeared in public, together with the apparent divisions within the cabinet on the issues of NATO and EU cooperation, and the conduct of Infrastructure Minister Velimir Ilić over the Horgoš-Požega highway concessions affair, had all "seriously tarnished the government’s image and dented citizens’ trust in their institutions".

"After one hundred days in office nothing has changed. Only 15-16 percent of citizens trust the government and give it a positive rating. What is striking is that the low trust rating has remained at the same level for over three years, since the formation of the previous government in March, 2004," says Logar.

Such behaviour on the part of Koštunica and his ministers has meant that consequently citizens do know who is charge of certain ministries, nor even what certain ministers look like.

In a B92 survey, some citizens thought Radovan Jelašić was the finance minister, while others thought it was Đelić. Zoran Lončar was in charge of "some ministry", those polled said; they had never heard of Aleksandra Smiljanić; and some names reminded them of actors.

Head of the Government Media Office Media Milivoj Mihajlović thinks that while the fact few people recognize any of the ministers is not good for the government’s image, it is not essential for its future work.

"If someone’s doing a bad job, no amount of PR can hide it," says Mihajlović.

Srđan Đurić, the Koštunica's media adviser, has yet to respond to B92’s inquiries of three days ago as to why, among other things, the prime minister had still not addressed the public, or why his meetings with representatives and businessmen from the Russian Federation had increased in frequency.