Opposition, ruling majority engage in heated debate

BELGRADE The debate on the new government in the Serbian parliament started on Thursday afternoon and lasted ten hours, ending at 05:00 CET on Friday. Members of the opposition and ruling majority engaged in heated debates. Opposition, ruling majority engage in heated debate PM-Designate Ivica Dacic reprimanded the Democratic Party (DS) and Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) MPs who requested that the session be stopped, adding that the new government should be elected so the country would not need to organize new elections. DS MP Balsa Bozovic requested around 1:30 that Dacic and candidates for ministers return to the hall or to stop the session or continue in the morning. Vesna Kovac who presided over parliament at the time said that they were in the building and that they were not obligated to be constantly present during the debate. Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) whip Cedomir Jovanovic called Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) leader Aleksandar Vucic a “dilettante” who wanted to coordinate all security services “without ever setting foot in any of them”. “When a party leader takes over control of the security services without having any experience on the job, the result will be the same as in the 90s,” Jovanovic stressed. He told the PM-designate that the new ruling majority directly affected the stability of the financial system by criticizing National Bank of Serbia (NBS) Governor Dejan Soskic. Commenting on Serbia’s relations with the EU, Jovanovic said that it was “fundamentally important” for Serbia to get a date for the beginning of the EU accession talks by the end of the year. Jovanovic said that the expose would not pass a reality test, that it was full of general statements and did not say a word about the appointments or offer reasons for the election of people to certain bodies. Moreover, the LDP leader said that he had expected that the prime minister-designate would dedicate more than one sentence to Kosovo. SNS deputy whip Jorgovanka Tabakovic condemned the LDP leader’s tone, which was “frighteningly high-pitched”, adding that he was probably trying to make up for the lack of argumentation. Vucic responded by saying that Jovanovic was a “tanned dilettante” who lacked knowledge and tried to teach everybody in parliament lessons. LSV leader Nenad Canak said that the new government looked like Socialist Mirko Marjanovic’s 1998 government and that the people who made up the government today were then barred from the EU. "The question arises - don't you think that you should have made a bigger step away from those coordinates, instead of coming up with this wish list," said Canak, who called Dacic's expose inspirational. The SVM said it would vote against the government, but that Dacic's expose was fresh in that he spoke about things realistically. The party did not rule out the possibility of cooperating with the new government. Dacic noted that the new government did not threaten Vojvodina’s autonomy because it was not even elected yet and that if anybody was doing it, it was the current government that Canak supported. The LSV leader said that everybody should be given a chance but that the people who were candidates for the ministers had already had their chance. Socialist Movement leader Aleksandar Vulin told Canak that he had for 12 years in various ways been a part of the government, privatizations and impoverishment of the citizens of Vojvodina. DSS whip Slobodan Samardzic stressed that Dacic’s expose was full of contradictions but that the focus of the new government was visible. “You cannot join the EU, you cannot start the EU accession negotiations without recognizing Kosovo. You have to choose one. You cannot develop good neighborly relations with, as you said, respect of sovereignty because the largest number of those countries has recognized Kosovo,” he pointed out. The DSS stressed that the document covered 20 or 30 topics, making it hard to discern the government's priorities. Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians (SVM) whip Balint Pastor said that his party would not support the new government. “We will vote against it because we are running an independent policy and we are not siding with any so-called big party,” he pointed out. The parliamentary group comprised of the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) and Christian Democratic Party of Serbia (DHSS) also criticized Dacic's expose underlining that it sounded like "a contradictory fairytale", stressing that it is all right with them that the previous government be punished, but not only the part that is now in the opposition. At the end of a 10-hour debate, Dacic told MPs that no one could expect that the entire policy and all things that the government would do during its term could be presented in the expose. "That was never the case, not even when Zoran Djindjic, and Zoran Zivkovic assumed the post. The expose could not give answers to essential issues and usually very painful ones for the destiny of the state, present the solutions, but everyone should start with something, as Shakespeare would say 'with a dream', i.e. with a goal," he said, adding that as of Friday, he would be put to the test, and he would be accountable to the Serbian citizens. Oppostion Democratic Party (DS) MPs Dragan Sutanovac, Dusan Petrovic, Dragoljub Micunovic (Tanjug) B92 Beta Tanjug

Opposition, ruling majority engage in heated debate

PM-Designate Ivica Dačić reprimanded the Democratic Party (DS) and Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) MPs who requested that the session be stopped, adding that the new government should be elected so the country would not need to organize new elections.

DS MP Balša Božović requested around 1:30 that Dačić and candidates for ministers return to the hall or to stop the session or continue in the morning.

Vesna Kovač who presided over parliament at the time said that they were in the building and that they were not obligated to be constantly present during the debate.

Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) whip Čedomir Jovanović called Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) leader Aleksandar Vučić a “dilettante” who wanted to coordinate all security services “without ever setting foot in any of them”.

“When a party leader takes over control of the security services without having any experience on the job, the result will be the same as in the 90s,” Jovanović stressed.

He told the PM-designate that the new ruling majority directly affected the stability of the financial system by criticizing National Bank of Serbia (NBS) Governor Dejan Šoškić.

Commenting on Serbia’s relations with the EU, Jovanović said that it was “fundamentally important” for Serbia to get a date for the beginning of the EU accession talks by the end of the year.

Jovanović said that the expose would not pass a reality test, that it was full of general statements and did not say a word about the appointments or offer reasons for the election of people to certain bodies.

Moreover, the LDP leader said that he had expected that the prime minister-designate would dedicate more than one sentence to Kosovo.

SNS deputy whip Jorgovanka Tabaković condemned the LDP leader’s tone, which was “frighteningly high-pitched”, adding that he was probably trying to make up for the lack of argumentation.

Vučić responded by saying that Jovanović was a “tanned dilettante” who lacked knowledge and tried to teach everybody in parliament lessons.

LSV leader Nenad Čanak said that the new government looked like Socialist Mirko Marjanović’s 1998 government and that the people who made up the government today were then barred from the EU.

"The question arises - don't you think that you should have made a bigger step away from those coordinates, instead of coming up with this wish list," said Čanak, who called Dačić's expose inspirational.

The SVM said it would vote against the government, but that Dačić's expose was fresh in that he spoke about things realistically.

The party did not rule out the possibility of cooperating with the new government.

Dačić noted that the new government did not threaten Vojvodina’s autonomy because it was not even elected yet and that if anybody was doing it, it was the current government that Čanak supported.

The LSV leader said that everybody should be given a chance but that the people who were candidates for the ministers had already had their chance.

Socialist Movement leader Aleksandar Vulin told Čanak that he had for 12 years in various ways been a part of the government, privatizations and impoverishment of the citizens of Vojvodina.

DSS whip Slobodan Samardžić stressed that Dačić’s expose was full of contradictions but that the focus of the new government was visible.

“You cannot join the EU, you cannot start the EU accession negotiations without recognizing Kosovo. You have to choose one. You cannot develop good neighborly relations with, as you said, respect of sovereignty because the largest number of those countries has recognized Kosovo,” he pointed out.

The DSS stressed that the document covered 20 or 30 topics, making it hard to discern the government's priorities.

Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians (SVM) whip Balint Pastor said that his party would not support the new government.

“We will vote against it because we are running an independent policy and we are not siding with any so-called big party,” he pointed out.

The parliamentary group comprised of the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) and Christian Democratic Party of Serbia (DHSS) also criticized Dačić's expose underlining that it sounded like "a contradictory fairytale", stressing that it is all right with them that the previous government be punished, but not only the part that is now in the opposition.

At the end of a 10-hour debate, Dačić told MPs that no one could expect that the entire policy and all things that the government would do during its term could be presented in the expose.

"That was never the case, not even when Zoran Đinđić, and Zoran Živković assumed the post. The expose could not give answers to essential issues and usually very painful ones for the destiny of the state, present the solutions, but everyone should start with something, as Shakespeare would say 'with a dream', i.e. with a goal," he said, adding that as of Friday, he would be put to the test, and he would be accountable to the Serbian citizens.