Nikolić dismissed as committee chairman

SNS leader Tomislav Nikolic has been dismissed as chairman of the Parliamentary Administrative Committee at its session today. The Democratic Party's (DS) Nenad Konstantinovic has been named as his replacement. Nikolic dismissed as committee chairman The initiative for his dismissal was launched by seven committee members from the ruling coalition. 10 of the committee members voted in favor of his dismissal--from the ruling coalition and the Radicals--while two abstained. Liberal Democrat Party and Democratic Party of Serbia members left the session before the vote was held. Eight members voted in favor of Konstantinovic's election, three Radicals voted against, while Nikolic and minority representative Esad Dzudzevic abstained. The SNS leader said later that he did not view his dismissal as a political defeat. "If I have to be a victim of an agreement between the Democrats and Radicals, Tadic and Seselj, I will never count that as a political defeat," he told journalists at parliament. "it was to be expected, I know about the SRS-DS agreement, I know that it's all the same to the Radicals who the chairman is, just so lang as it isn't me, because that's about a whim and their rage, and you could see for yourselves that they put up comparatively little fight to the election of a DS MP," the SNS leader surmised. Nikolic himself scheduled the meeting yesterday after receiving a request from a group of MPs to hold the session and to include on the agenda his own dismissal and the election of a new chairman. Nikolic’s erstwhile colleagues in the Serb Radical Party (SRS) have been seeking his dismissal ever since he quit the party last year to form the Serb Progressive Party (SNS). The initiative for his dismissal was launched by seven committee members from the ruling coalition. The ruling coalition have made no secret of the fact that they intend to assume the post of Committee chairman, which will constitute a break with previous years, when, as a rule, the post has been occupied by a member of the largest opposition party. This raises the question of the majority that the DS will now have in committees, as they will now have more posts than allotted to them in the initial distribution of committee chairmanships, when an agreement was reached between the parties during the constitution of parliament. There is also the matter of how the ruling coalition will respond to the Radicals’ other demands, including the return of local assembly mandates. For now it is clear that there will be no such kind of cooperation when it comes to two other parliamentary committees—finance and agriculture—headed by Nikolic’s SNS. Tomislav Nikolic (FoNet, archive)

Nikolić dismissed as committee chairman

The initiative for his dismissal was launched by seven committee members from the ruling coalition. 10 of the committee members voted in favor of his dismissal--from the ruling coalition and the Radicals--while two abstained. Liberal Democrat Party and Democratic Party of Serbia members left the session before the vote was held.

Eight members voted in favor of Konstantinović's election, three Radicals voted against, while Nikolić and minority representative Esad Džudžević abstained.

The SNS leader said later that he did not view his dismissal as a political defeat.

"If I have to be a victim of an agreement between the Democrats and Radicals, Tadić and Šešelj, I will never count that as a political defeat," he told journalists at parliament.

"it was to be expected, I know about the SRS-DS agreement, I know that it's all the same to the Radicals who the chairman is, just so lang as it isn't me, because that's about a whim and their rage, and you could see for yourselves that they put up comparatively little fight to the election of a DS MP," the SNS leader surmised.

Nikolić himself scheduled the meeting yesterday after receiving a request from a group of MPs to hold the session and to include on the agenda his own dismissal and the election of a new chairman.

Nikolić’s erstwhile colleagues in the Serb Radical Party (SRS) have been seeking his dismissal ever since he quit the party last year to form the Serb Progressive Party (SNS).

The initiative for his dismissal was launched by seven committee members from the ruling coalition.

The ruling coalition have made no secret of the fact that they intend to assume the post of Committee chairman, which will constitute a break with previous years, when, as a rule, the post has been occupied by a member of the largest opposition party.

This raises the question of the majority that the DS will now have in committees, as they will now have more posts than allotted to them in the initial distribution of committee chairmanships, when an agreement was reached between the parties during the constitution of parliament.

There is also the matter of how the ruling coalition will respond to the Radicals’ other demands, including the return of local assembly mandates.

For now it is clear that there will be no such kind of cooperation when it comes to two other parliamentary committees—finance and agriculture—headed by Nikolić’s SNS.