"DS split over post-election options"

A rift has emerged at the heart of the Democratic Party (DS) over the issue of post-election coalitions following snap ballots in 3 municipalities, says Blic. According to the daily, the DS leadership is split down the usual lines, between the members of President Boris Tadic’s inner circle, who have long been seeking to establish a two-party system, and party officials with their own personal ambitions to advance in the state hierarchy. "DS split over post-election options" Tadic’s faction are keen to enter talks with the Serb Progressive Party (SNS) at the earliest possible opportunity and split power in the two Belgrade municipalities of Vozdovac and Zemun, writes Blic. However, certain members of the DS presidency would prefer to put off cooperation with the Progressives and take their chances at new elections. Blic understands from senior sources within the DS that the Democrats would try to group together as broader coalition in Zemun as possible and go for a better result, while playing for time in Vozdovac—where they have held power for the last 15 years—in order to galvanize their voters. This option would also, ultimately, involve cooperation with the SNS, but would not be so overt, and would dampen the SNS’s ambitions of gaining a foothold in the national government. “He’s created a much stronger party than he’d planned,“ one DS official told the paper, warning that Nikolic could make even more ground if a coalition deal was struck immediately. The option favored by leading DS lights, Belgrade Mayor Dragan Djilas and Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac, is to retain the status quo in the governing coalition, as G17 Plus has already warned that it will quit the government if the DS enters any pact, transparent or otherwise, with the SNS. It is clear that any collapse or G17’s withdrawal from the ruling coalition would only hasten the SNS’s rise to power.

"DS split over post-election options"

Tadić’s faction are keen to enter talks with the Serb Progressive Party (SNS) at the earliest possible opportunity and split power in the two Belgrade municipalities of Voždovac and Zemun, writes Blic.

However, certain members of the DS presidency would prefer to put off cooperation with the Progressives and take their chances at new elections.

Blic understands from senior sources within the DS that the Democrats would try to group together as broader coalition in Zemun as possible and go for a better result, while playing for time in Voždovac—where they have held power for the last 15 years—in order to galvanize their voters.

This option would also, ultimately, involve cooperation with the SNS, but would not be so overt, and would dampen the SNS’s ambitions of gaining a foothold in the national government.

“He’s created a much stronger party than he’d planned,“ one DS official told the paper, warning that Nikolić could make even more ground if a coalition deal was struck immediately.

The option favored by leading DS lights, Belgrade Mayor Dragan Đilas and Defense Minister Dragan Šutanovac, is to retain the status quo in the governing coalition, as G17 Plus has already warned that it will quit the government if the DS enters any pact, transparent or otherwise, with the SNS.

It is clear that any collapse or G17’s withdrawal from the ruling coalition would only hasten the SNS’s rise to power.