DS, SPS on verge of Belgrade deal?

B92 understands that a basic agreement has been reached to form a Belgrade local government between the Democratic Party (DS) and the SPS. According to B92’s sources, DS representatives are due to present to LDP officials a program for Belgrade’s development so that that party would know precisely what it was lending its support to a minority government in the capital for. DS, SPS on verge of Belgrade deal? Earlier, daily Blic claimed that the DS had reached an agreement with the SPS for Dragan Djilas to be mayor of Belgrade, with PUPS’ Milan Krkobabic as his deputy. As part of the same deal, the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) would provide the local assembly speaker. The Democratic Party (DS) and the SPS-Associated Pensioners' Party (PUPS)-United Serbia (JS) coalition would form the majority, with the support of the Liberal Democratic Party, claimed Blic’s sources. “Such a scenario is possible, and is already in evidence in municipalities like Vozdovac, Palilula, and Rakovica, where the SPS and the LDP are already collaborating,“ claims the source. However, the president of the SPS’s Belgrade board, Milisav Petronijevic, said that media speculation concerning an agreement between his party and the DS on formation of a Belgrade local government was nothing more than that--speculation. “I’ve read various versions about who’s mayor and who’s deputy mayor. The only thing I should repeat is that Aleksandar Antic is responsible for talks in Belgrade. We’re not involved in that. Whether anyone is negotiating (with the DS) in private, I don’t know, and I wouldn’t like to comment,” Petronijevic told journalists at the parliament building. He said that the SPS’s main board was the only body that could call into question the existing coalition agreement with the Democratic Party of Serbia and the Radicals. “There’s nothing new to add to what is already known, and it’s known that a coalition agreement has been signed and that we’re waiting for the local assembly’s constitutive session,” said the SPS official. He said that the SPS had confirmed this agreement, and that the decision had not been altered. Asked if he ruled out a change in the Belgrade power structure, Petronijevic said that he ruled the possibility out as far as the city board was concerned, but reiterated that the main board was the only one authorized to conclude and terminate agreements. Meanwhile, New Serbia (NS) official Dubravka Filipovski has said that “the unity and determination to see the will of Belgrade’s citizens respected is confirmed every day.” She said that officials from the Serb Radical Party (SRS), Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS)-NS coalition and the SPS were continuing talks to form working groups and expert teams for the next Belgrade assembly. Filipovski said that the possibility of forming another majority in Belgrade had been ruled out, adding that it would be a “harsh violation of the electoral will of the citizens.” She also refuted the claims in Blic, according to which the Democratic Party had reached an agreement with the SPS to form a government in in the capital. “The “For a European Serbia” list is using propaganda to publish fallacies and disinformation in an attempt to suppress the will of the citizens, who want change,” the NS official stormed, adding that the DS’s efforts were wearing thin, and that Belgrade would have a new government. She said that there was nothing democratic about the DS and that it was a “dictatorship”, accusing DS leader Boris Tadic of directly violating the will of the citizens. The latest meeting regarding the prospective Belgrade coalition was attended by Filipovski, SRS mayoral candidate Aleksandar Vucic, the DSS’s Andreja Mladenovic, and SPS official Aleksandar Antic. Dragan Djilas (FoNet, archive)

DS, SPS on verge of Belgrade deal?

Earlier, daily Blic claimed that the DS had reached an agreement with the SPS for Dragan Đilas to be mayor of Belgrade, with PUPS’ Milan Krkobabić as his deputy.

As part of the same deal, the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) would provide the local assembly speaker.

The Democratic Party (DS) and the SPS-Associated Pensioners' Party (PUPS)-United Serbia (JS) coalition would form the majority, with the support of the Liberal Democratic Party, claimed Blic’s sources. “Such a scenario is possible, and is already in evidence in municipalities like Voždovac, Palilula, and Rakovica, where the SPS and the LDP are already collaborating,“ claims the source.

However, the president of the SPS’s Belgrade board, Milisav Petronijević, said that media speculation concerning an agreement between his party and the DS on formation of a Belgrade local government was nothing more than that--speculation.

“I’ve read various versions about who’s mayor and who’s deputy mayor. The only thing I should repeat is that Aleksandar Antić is responsible for talks in Belgrade. We’re not involved in that. Whether anyone is negotiating (with the DS) in private, I don’t know, and I wouldn’t like to comment,” Petronijević told journalists at the parliament building.

He said that the SPS’s main board was the only body that could call into question the existing coalition agreement with the Democratic Party of Serbia and the Radicals.

“There’s nothing new to add to what is already known, and it’s known that a coalition agreement has been signed and that we’re waiting for the local assembly’s constitutive session,” said the SPS official.

He said that the SPS had confirmed this agreement, and that the decision had not been altered.

Asked if he ruled out a change in the Belgrade power structure, Petronijević said that he ruled the possibility out as far as the city board was concerned, but reiterated that the main board was the only one authorized to conclude and terminate agreements.

Meanwhile, New Serbia (NS) official Dubravka Filipovski has said that “the unity and determination to see the will of Belgrade’s citizens respected is confirmed every day.”

She said that officials from the Serb Radical Party (SRS), Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS)-NS coalition and the SPS were continuing talks to form working groups and expert teams for the next Belgrade assembly.

Filipovski said that the possibility of forming another majority in Belgrade had been ruled out, adding that it would be a “harsh violation of the electoral will of the citizens.”

She also refuted the claims in Blic, according to which the Democratic Party had reached an agreement with the SPS to form a government in in the capital.

“The “For a European Serbia” list is using propaganda to publish fallacies and disinformation in an attempt to suppress the will of the citizens, who want change,” the NS official stormed, adding that the DS’s efforts were wearing thin, and that Belgrade would have a new government.

She said that there was nothing democratic about the DS and that it was a “dictatorship”, accusing DS leader Boris Tadić of directly violating the will of the citizens.

The latest meeting regarding the prospective Belgrade coalition was attended by Filipovski, SRS mayoral candidate Aleksandar Vučić, the DSS’s Andreja Mladenović, and SPS official Aleksandar Antić.