"All former DS ministers should resign as MPs"

BELGRADE Dragan Djilas says that when he asked former DS ministers to now resign from parliament because of their poor performance, he was "referring to everyone". That includes former PM Mirko Cvetkovic, the president of the opposition Democratic Party (DS) and Belgrade mayor clarified during a B92 TV talk show late on Sunday. "All former DS ministers should resign as MPs" "I believe in teamwork, not in the individual. During the May 6 election, the people sent a clear message and graded everyone's performance. The whole team shares responsibility. I think some people worked well and should be on the team again tomorrow, while some did not work well," Djilas said. He stressed that he did not put this to a vote at the DS Presidency session on Friday, because under the law seats belong to MPs, but noted it would be proper for former ministers to resign when they are asked to do so. "I expect others will follow the example of the two ministers (Snezana Malovic and Oliver Dulic) who have resigned, and Goran Bogdanovic, who offered his resignation, but whom I told not to resign because he is an MP from northern Kosovo, and the situation with Kosovo is difficult," said Djilas. Djilas said that Malovic, a former justice minister, deserved to be part of the team, because even though the judiciary reform was not carried out well, several laws were passed during her term which enabled the state to fight corruption and crime, and several hundred million euros worth of property was confiscated from the criminal group headed by fugitive Darko Saric. The same goes for former Minister of Environment, Mining and Spatial Planning Oliver Dulic, who passed a law enabling conversion of land, which should fix some negative things which happened during privatization, said Djilas. At the same time Djilas, who also serves as mayor of Belgrade, said he was "apologizing because people today live worse than before". The Democratic Party had the greatest responsibility and for that reason owes this apology to the citizens, according to him. "We had the head of state, the prime minister and most ministers, our responsibility was the greatest," Djilas emphasized, and said that "biggest mistakes were made in the economy". The new leader of the DS also stated that he was "not thinking about how long the party would remain in opposition": "According to everything the DS has been doing for the past 20 years it deserves to be the biggest party in Serbia. It has at its disposal a large number of quality people." Dragan Djilas (B92) B92 Tanjug

"All former DS ministers should resign as MPs"

"I believe in teamwork, not in the individual. During the May 6 election, the people sent a clear message and graded everyone's performance. The whole team shares responsibility. I think some people worked well and should be on the team again tomorrow, while some did not work well," Đilas said.

He stressed that he did not put this to a vote at the DS Presidency session on Friday, because under the law seats belong to MPs, but noted it would be proper for former ministers to resign when they are asked to do so.

"I expect others will follow the example of the two ministers (Snežana Malović and Oliver Dulić) who have resigned, and Goran Bogdanović, who offered his resignation, but whom I told not to resign because he is an MP from northern Kosovo, and the situation with Kosovo is difficult," said Đilas.

Đilas said that Malović, a former justice minister, deserved to be part of the team, because even though the judiciary reform was not carried out well, several laws were passed during her term which enabled the state to fight corruption and crime, and several hundred million euros worth of property was confiscated from the criminal group headed by fugitive Darko Šarić.

The same goes for former Minister of Environment, Mining and Spatial Planning Oliver Dulić, who passed a law enabling conversion of land, which should fix some negative things which happened during privatization, said Đilas.

At the same time Đilas, who also serves as mayor of Belgrade, said he was "apologizing because people today live worse than before".

The Democratic Party had the greatest responsibility and for that reason owes this apology to the citizens, according to him.

"We had the head of state, the prime minister and most ministers, our responsibility was the greatest," Đilas emphasized, and said that "biggest mistakes were made in the economy".

The new leader of the DS also stated that he was "not thinking about how long the party would remain in opposition":

"According to everything the DS has been doing for the past 20 years it deserves to be the biggest party in Serbia. It has at its disposal a large number of quality people."