Opposition party reacts to "war or peace" warning

The ruling Democrats have proclaimed the upcoming general election in Serbia to be an issue of "war and peace", because they fear defeat, say their main rivals. The opposition Serb Progressive Party, which polls as the country's most popular ahead of the May 6 elections, believes that the Democrats are afraid of the possibility that they will lose and therefore be forced "to hand Serbia over". Opposition party reacts to "war or peace" warning The assertion that Serbians will in fact be choosing "between war and peace" as they head to the polls to elect the next parliament was heard on Wednesday from a top DS official. SNS Main Board Chairwoman Jorgovanka Tabakovic reacted by saying this was "an imposed topic, that will be meet with the citizens' disdain". On the contrary, this party official continued during her news conference in Belgrade on Thursday, Serbia will choose between "progress and development, and regress and debts". She also promised that should the SNS form the next government, "we will seek a handover of duties on the first day and make a detailed balance of everything that the DS and its coalition partners leave behind". "It is this balance that makes May 6 a matter of life and death for the DS - not because of Serbia, but because of themselves," said Tabakovic. Addressing the issue of the economy and corruption, Tabakovic noted that Serbians had no insight into how the money from the state budget was being spent, but added that it was used "for political privileges". She also accused the Privatization Agency of previously "paying only change money to the budget", while now that it has run out of money, it is using state funds. "We are in favor of merging state agencies that perform similar jobs, and for a list to be made of property to be done for each of them, as well as of their accounts and money that has been circumventing the budget," Tabakovic explained. She accused the current government that it was "glad to see the back of the IMF", as it was "unwilling to admit, during the campaign, that the state auditor is an important institution that monitors how the money is being spent". Tabakovic announced that the SNS will in the coming period "deal with infrastructural projects Morava-Vardar and Port of Belgrade", and that the citizens "will be given jobs in these public-private partnerships". Jorgovanka Tabakovic (file) Beta Tanjug

Opposition party reacts to "war or peace" warning

The assertion that Serbians will in fact be choosing "between war and peace" as they head to the polls to elect the next parliament was heard on Wednesday from a top DS official.

SNS Main Board Chairwoman Jorgovanka Tabaković reacted by saying this was "an imposed topic, that will be meet with the citizens' disdain".

On the contrary, this party official continued during her news conference in Belgrade on Thursday, Serbia will choose between "progress and development, and regress and debts".

She also promised that should the SNS form the next government, "we will seek a handover of duties on the first day and make a detailed balance of everything that the DS and its coalition partners leave behind".

"It is this balance that makes May 6 a matter of life and death for the DS - not because of Serbia, but because of themselves," said Tabaković.

Addressing the issue of the economy and corruption, Tabaković noted that Serbians had no insight into how the money from the state budget was being spent, but added that it was used "for political privileges".

She also accused the Privatization Agency of previously "paying only change money to the budget", while now that it has run out of money, it is using state funds.

"We are in favor of merging state agencies that perform similar jobs, and for a list to be made of property to be done for each of them, as well as of their accounts and money that has been circumventing the budget," Tabaković explained.

She accused the current government that it was "glad to see the back of the IMF", as it was "unwilling to admit, during the campaign, that the state auditor is an important institution that monitors how the money is being spent".

Tabaković announced that the SNS will in the coming period "deal with infrastructural projects Morava-Vardar and Port of Belgrade", and that the citizens "will be given jobs in these public-private partnerships".