DS boards in Vojvodina "will back Đilas for leader"

BELGRADE Goran Jesic has said that 43 out of 45 Democratic Party (DS) boards in Vojvodina have now officially supported Dragan Djilas in his bid to become party leader. They in this way also backed the head of the Vojvodina provincial government, Bojan Pajtic, to be his future deputy. DS boards in Vojvodina "will back Djilas for leader" Jesic, who is currently vice-president of the Vojvodina government and a DS party official, spoke for B92 TV on Tuesday. Belgrade Mayor Djilas is running against Boris Tadic in the race for party leadership. Jesic added that he expected the number of local boards to rise to 44 as only the one in Sremska Mitrovica would not support Djilas, because, as he said, "there we have that famous problem of a dissolved board". He also noted that the party's provincial board had not declared itself yet, and would meet "during this, or perhaps next week". "That is the provincial organization, but local organizations of Vojvodina have absolutely clearly made their stance. After all, representatives of all local organizations, except Sremska Mitrovica, were in Kragujevac on Saturday and also supported Bojan Pajtic and Dragan Djilas," Jesic said. Asked why he now decided to "turn against Tadic", considering that in April he described him as "the best candidate for president of Serbia", and later when the reelection bid failed, "the best candidate for prime minister", Jesic said that was "a pre-election situation". He added that he "still claims that Tadic was the best candidate for president" and that "Tadic as a statesmen" was not contentious, but that Tadic as party leader - was: "What is contentious is the way Boris Tadic led and made decisions withing the party, which I criticized as well. Take 50 of my interviews given in the past five years where I criticize the functioning and the decision making within the DS, which have been catastrophic. In other words, the decisions within the DS were made in a small circle of people, who are not even part of the party structures and who cannot be punished for making a bad decision." "Tadic cannot be party leader because he made the sort of decisions he made, while the way the party was managed has led to a concentration of power, where now, for example, the Main Board serves no purpose, while the president can annul the decision of any party organ," Jesic said, in reference to Tadic's recent move to annul the decision of the Belgrade board to have all municipal boards in the capital city make their decision on the DS president candidature at the same time. Goran Jesic (Tanjug, file) B92

DS boards in Vojvodina "will back Đilas for leader"

Ješić, who is currently vice-president of the Vojvodina government and a DS party official, spoke for B92 TV on Tuesday.

Belgrade Mayor Đilas is running against Boris Tadić in the race for party leadership.

Ješić added that he expected the number of local boards to rise to 44 as only the one in Sremska Mitrovica would not support Đilas, because, as he said, "there we have that famous problem of a dissolved board".

He also noted that the party's provincial board had not declared itself yet, and would meet "during this, or perhaps next week".

"That is the provincial organization, but local organizations of Vojvodina have absolutely clearly made their stance. After all, representatives of all local organizations, except Sremska Mitrovica, were in Kragujevac on Saturday and also supported Bojan Pajtić and Dragan Đilas," Ješić said.

Asked why he now decided to "turn against Tadić", considering that in April he described him as "the best candidate for president of Serbia", and later when the reelection bid failed, "the best candidate for prime minister", Ješić said that was "a pre-election situation".

He added that he "still claims that Tadić was the best candidate for president" and that "Tadić as a statesmen" was not contentious, but that Tadić as party leader - was:

"What is contentious is the way Boris Tadić led and made decisions withing the party, which I criticized as well. Take 50 of my interviews given in the past five years where I criticize the functioning and the decision making within the DS, which have been catastrophic. In other words, the decisions within the DS were made in a small circle of people, who are not even part of the party structures and who cannot be punished for making a bad decision."

"Tadić cannot be party leader because he made the sort of decisions he made, while the way the party was managed has led to a concentration of power, where now, for example, the Main Board serves no purpose, while the president can annul the decision of any party organ," Ješić said, in reference to Tadić's recent move to annul the decision of the Belgrade board to have all municipal boards in the capital city make their decision on the DS president candidature at the same time.