Dinkić might bring down another government

Mladjan Dinkic's G17 Plus party - which started out as an NGO in 1997 - looks set to cause the collapse of yet another Serbian government. In 2003, after the Democrats replaced him as NBS governor, Dinkic was able to deal damage to the cabinet led by PM Zoran Zivkovic, although his party did not have any seats in parliament. Dinkic might bring down another government He then served as minister in both cabinets headed by PM Vojislav Kostunica, to withdraw the party's ministers from both, forcing early elections. On Monday in Belgrade, PM Mirko Cvetkovic announced that Dinkic would be sacked, and along with him, Finance Ministry State Secretary Slobodan Ilic. The likely beginning of the end of Cvetkovic's cabinet - which was put together in the spring of 2008 - started when Dinkic and Ilic clashed in public over the location for a new plant, set to be build by Slovenian home appliances manufacturer Gorenje. Dinkic - who heads the Economy Ministry and is one of the deputy PMs, along with being at the helm of both G17 Plus and the United Regions of Serbia parties - opted to give the investment to the eastern Serbian town of Zajecar. This broke a previous agreement to have the factory built in the west of the country, in the town of Valjevo. The move angered the local mayor, but also Slobodan Ilic, who accused Dinkic of "wrongly implementing decentralization, and snatching away foreign investments". Dinkic responded sending a letter to the prime minister, demanding that Ilic be "penalized most severely", saying that his statements were "cowardly", for which the state secretary "must pay the price". This opened the floodgates of accusations among the ruling coalition partners, which culminated in Dinkic's interview last week, when he said centers outside the government, rather than the prime minister, controlled the work of his cabinet. For more than two weeks there was speculation on whether Dinkic would bring down the government, or if the Democrats (DS) would manage to bring down Dinkic. Dinkic's G17 Plus has 24 seats in the current parliament, and holds six portfolios in the government. Mladjan Dinkic (FoNet, file)

Dinkić might bring down another government

He then served as minister in both cabinets headed by PM Vojislav Koštunica, to withdraw the party's ministers from both, forcing early elections.

On Monday in Belgrade, PM Mirko Cvetković announced that Dinkić would be sacked, and along with him, Finance Ministry State Secretary Slobodan Ilić.

The likely beginning of the end of Cvetković's cabinet - which was put together in the spring of 2008 - started when Dinkić and Ilić clashed in public over the location for a new plant, set to be build by Slovenian home appliances manufacturer Gorenje.

Dinkić - who heads the Economy Ministry and is one of the deputy PMs, along with being at the helm of both G17 Plus and the United Regions of Serbia parties - opted to give the investment to the eastern Serbian town of Zaječar.

This broke a previous agreement to have the factory built in the west of the country, in the town of Valjevo. The move angered the local mayor, but also Slobodan Ilić, who accused Dinkić of "wrongly implementing decentralization, and snatching away foreign investments".

Dinkić responded sending a letter to the prime minister, demanding that Ilić be "penalized most severely", saying that his statements were "cowardly", for which the state secretary "must pay the price".

This opened the floodgates of accusations among the ruling coalition partners, which culminated in Dinkić's interview last week, when he said centers outside the government, rather than the prime minister, controlled the work of his cabinet.

For more than two weeks there was speculation on whether Dinkić would bring down the government, or if the Democrats (DS) would manage to bring down Dinkić.

Dinkić's G17 Plus has 24 seats in the current parliament, and holds six portfolios in the government.