Minister on elections, EU candidate status decision

All estimates show that the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) will be the third strongest option after the elections, Education Minister Zarko Obradovic says. He added that Socialists’ goal was to have SPS leader Ivica Dacic as a prime minister in the new government. Minister on elections, EU candidate status decision “We have results and our leader Dacic is the minister who got the best assessments. We rely on him and the whole coalition's rating,“ Obradovic stressed. “Our strategic goal is to go with Party of United Pensioners of Serbia (PUPS) and United Serbia (JS) again. The combination has proved to be good and I am sure that we would improve our result with the same composition,” he said, commenting on the upcoming elections. The minister says that the elections will be held next spring but that as far as SPS is concerned “they could be held as soon as tomorrow”. He stressed that the elections would show which parties would form the government. Commenting on December 9 when the European Council should make a decision on Serbia’s EU candidate status, Obradovic said that the “sky will not fall” if Serbia did not get the status. “If we miss the status, the ruling coalition would not be punished in the elections because we have made great progress in reforms precisely for the sake of the citizens, not Brussels,” he explained. The education minister believes that the government should not step down even if Serbia did not get the candidate status, “because obtaining of the candidate status does not only depend of the government policy but on Brussels as well”. “It is obvious that some EU countries have changed, publicly or covertly, their attitude toward Serbia’s candidacy. They have started setting new conditions. The situation is also complicated by the internal relations and the financial crisis in the Union. Whatever the decision will be on December 9 I am sure that the people will positively assess our work,” he concluded. Zarko Obradovic (FoNet)

Minister on elections, EU candidate status decision

“We have results and our leader Dačić is the minister who got the best assessments. We rely on him and the whole coalition's rating,“ Obradović stressed.

“Our strategic goal is to go with Party of United Pensioners of Serbia (PUPS) and United Serbia (JS) again. The combination has proved to be good and I am sure that we would improve our result with the same composition,” he said, commenting on the upcoming elections.

The minister says that the elections will be held next spring but that as far as SPS is concerned “they could be held as soon as tomorrow”. He stressed that the elections would show which parties would form the government.

Commenting on December 9 when the European Council should make a decision on Serbia’s EU candidate status, Obradović said that the “sky will not fall” if Serbia did not get the status.

“If we miss the status, the ruling coalition would not be punished in the elections because we have made great progress in reforms precisely for the sake of the citizens, not Brussels,” he explained.

The education minister believes that the government should not step down even if Serbia did not get the candidate status, “because obtaining of the candidate status does not only depend of the government policy but on Brussels as well”.

“It is obvious that some EU countries have changed, publicly or covertly, their attitude toward Serbia’s candidacy. They have started setting new conditions. The situation is also complicated by the internal relations and the financial crisis in the Union. Whatever the decision will be on December 9 I am sure that the people will positively assess our work,” he concluded.