Dinkic: Dacic still lives in the nineties

Mladjan Dinkic: “It will not be possible to carry out crucial reforms as long as Ivica Dacic is Prime Minister. Dinkic: ''Therefore the solution is to,after the extraordinary parliamentary elections, unite all those who truly want a modernized Serbia, and in the event that the SNS (SerbianProgressive Party) wins more than 125 MP mandates, Aleksandar Vucic could do it on his own, if he so wishes Dinkic: Dacic still lives in the nineties '‘Reforms require serious political support, and with Dacic, who only cares about surviving day to day on the position of Prime Minister, there simply will not be support for unpopular measures, nor does he have any kind of vision for modernizing Serbia'', said the outgoing Minister of Finance and Economy and leader of the United Regions of Serbia (URS) in an interview for the latest edition of NIN weekly. Did you feel worse when the previous Prime Minister Mirko Cvektovic said that you had to go, or when Dacic did? “I did not feel bad either then, or now… Last time it turned out that it was a good thing for my party that I was replaced, since the previous government was doomed to failure. This now is an entirely new experience, even though it all comes down to the same thing – pure politics… Believe it or not, Dacic felt much worse than I did, when he informed me in front of Vucic on 27th of July that I had to leave, since I had never seen him so frightened and nervous before. He smoked cigar after cigar, so that after a four-hour-long meeting of the three of us his office resembled anything but a serious Prime Minister’s cabinet.’’ Do you think that Dacic will end up like Cvetkovic? ''Probably.’’ You claimed at the time that decisions were not brought by Cvetkovic, but rather Boris Tadic. Can the same parallel be drawn between Dacic and Vucic? ''No, these are very different cases. Dacic said in a straightforward way, in Vucic’s presence, that he was forced to sacrifice me, so as to preserve himself.’’ Why does he have to sacrifice you to save himself? Could you explain? ''That’s what I asked Dacic, and he told us: If Vucic gets the position of Minister of Finance and Economy without elections, he will no longer be so motivated as to go for extraordinary elections to get the Prime Minister’s position. I said that I didn’t understand this argument, since if the citizens wanted Vucic for prime minister, he would certainly become one, sooner or later, notwithstanding whether the URS would now remain in government or not. To this Dacic said: Well enough, but until then I will, at least for a little while, be Prime Minister. I wanted to force him to come clean, so in the continued talk I asked him in front of Vucic: And does this mean that you are actually hoping that Vucic’s rating will drop because in the future, in heading the two most difficult ministries – finances and economy – he will have to also undertake unpopular measures, because of which his ratings will drop, and he will in the end give up on extraordinary elections after which he could arrive at the head of government? To my own and Vucic’s amazement, Dacic openly admitted: Yes, that is precisely the point, how long did it have to take you to realize this?’’ He said this in front of Vucic? ''Yes, in front of Vucic. We were together throughout.’’ And Vucic did not react to this? ''Yes, but because of decency and respect for the readers of NIN, I cannot repeat that. In this conversation, Dacic very openly showed that he only cared about remaining Prime Minister, and that he was not in the least interested in citizens, the government goals, or the state, not even in his SPS, for he later to Vucic’s question: And do you give up Minister of Education Zarko Obradovic?, replied without any hesitation: I give him up…’’ And is it not a little strange that Vucic, as the politically strongest man in the country, agrees to all this quite easily? ''I am certain that Vucic has remembered everything well. At this moment, government is not possible without Dacic, due to the number of SPS MPs in the Parliament. And why didn’t he decide for extraordinary elections, especially since it was the standpoint of most members of the SNS Presidency? ''I can only assume that the reason lies in the fact that with the Brussels agreement certain obligations have been taken on, and thus also the holding of local elections in Kosovo, at which the Serbs should also take part. Until that is completed, I do not expect extraordinary elections in Serbia.’’ So, after 3rd of November and local elections in Kosovo, you are also expecting extraordinary parliamentary elections in Seria? “I do not believe that Vucic will want Dacic to lead the government for much longer. Especially after the experience I have described.’’ Did you discuss this with Vucic? ''No. This is only my personal opinion, since political logics indicates that this is how it’s going to end. (…)’’ Could it happen that the Dacic-Vucic duo will find it easier to implement reforms without you? ''Time will show this very soon. I do not know whether this is at all important, but when we spoke about the last package of measures, I was the most radical in my proposals, Vucic was very close to my standpoints, but still a degree less radical, while Dacic seems to still be living in the 1990s.’’ Therefore, there can be no reforms with him? ''I think that reform and modernizing Serbia do not interest him at all, but rather only power for the sake of power. Look, virtually all public companies which had been led in the past couple of years by SPS officials have been ruined. From Galenika, Dunav Osiguranje, to Srbijagas, Dinkic said for NIN.’’ Beta/file/ VIP

Dinkic: Dacic still lives in the nineties

'‘Reforms require serious
political support, and with Dacic, who only cares about surviving day
to day on the position of Prime Minister, there simply will not be
support for unpopular measures, nor does he have any kind of vision
for modernizing Serbia'', said the outgoing Minister of Finance and
Economy and leader of the United Regions of Serbia (URS) in an
interview for the latest edition of NIN weekly.

Did you feel worse when the previous Prime Minister Mirko
Cvektovic said that you had to go, or when Dacic did?
“I did not feel bad either then, or now… Last time it turned
out that it was a good thing for my party that I was replaced, since
the previous government was doomed to failure. This now is an
entirely new experience, even though it all comes down to the same
thing – pure politics… Believe it or not, Dacic felt much worse than I
did, when he informed me in front of Vucic on 27th of July that I had to
leave, since I had never seen him so frightened and nervous before.
He smoked cigar after cigar, so that after a four-hour-long meeting of
the three of us his office resembled anything but a serious Prime
Minister’s cabinet.’’

Do you think that Dacic will end up like Cvetkovic?
''Probably.’’

You claimed at the time that decisions were not brought by
Cvetkovic, but rather Boris Tadic. Can the same parallel be
drawn between Dacic and Vucic?
''No, these are very different cases. Dacic said in a
straightforward way, in Vucic’s presence, that he was forced to sacrifice
me, so as to preserve himself.’’

Why does he have to sacrifice you to save himself? Could you
explain?
''That’s what I asked Dacic, and he told us: If Vucic gets
the position of Minister of Finance and Economy without
elections, he will no longer be so motivated as to go for extraordinary
elections to get the Prime Minister’s position. I said that I didn’t
understand this argument, since if the citizens wanted Vucic for prime
minister, he would certainly become one, sooner or later,
notwithstanding whether the URS would now remain in government
or not. To this Dacic said: Well enough, but until then I will, at least
for a little while, be Prime Minister. I wanted to force him to come
clean, so in the continued talk I asked him in front of Vucic: And does
this mean that you are actually hoping that Vucic’s rating will drop
because in the future, in heading the two most difficult ministries –
finances and economy – he will have to also undertake unpopular
measures, because of which his ratings will drop, and he will in the
end give up on extraordinary elections after which he could arrive at
the head of government? To my own and Vucic’s amazement, Dacic
openly admitted: Yes, that is precisely the point, how long did it have
to take you to realize this?’’

He said this in front of Vucic?
''Yes, in front of Vucic. We were together throughout.’’

And Vucic did not react to this?
''Yes, but because of decency and respect for the readers of
NIN, I cannot repeat that. In this conversation, Dacic very openly
showed that he only cared about remaining Prime Minister, and that
he was not in the least interested in citizens, the government goals, or the state, not even in his SPS, for he later to Vucic’s question: And do you give up Minister of
Education Zarko Obradovic?, replied without any hesitation: I give
him up…’’

And is it not a little strange that Vucic, as the politically strongest
man in the country, agrees to all this quite easily?
''I am certain that Vucic has remembered everything well.
At this moment, government is not possible without Dacic, due to the
number of SPS MPs in the Parliament.

And why didn’t he decide for extraordinary elections, especially
since it was the standpoint of most members of the SNS
Presidency?
''I can only assume that the reason lies in the fact that with the
Brussels agreement certain obligations have been taken on, and thus
also the holding of local elections in Kosovo, at which the Serbs
should also take part. Until that is completed, I do not expect
extraordinary elections in Serbia.’’

So, after 3rd of November and local elections in Kosovo, you are also
expecting extraordinary parliamentary elections in Seria?
“I do not believe that Vucic will want Dacic to lead the
government for much longer. Especially after the experience I have
described.’’

Did you discuss this with Vucic?
''No. This is only my personal opinion, since political logics
indicates that this is how it’s going to end. (…)’’

Could it happen that the Dacic-Vucic duo will find it easier to
implement reforms without you?
''Time will show this very soon. I do not know whether this
is at all important, but when we spoke about the last package of
measures, I was the most radical in my proposals, Vucic was very
close to my standpoints, but still a degree less radical, while Dacic
seems to still be living in the 1990s.’’

Therefore, there can be no reforms with him?
''I think that reform and modernizing Serbia do not interest
him at all, but rather only power for the sake of power. Look,
virtually all public companies which had been led in the past couple
of years by SPS officials have been ruined. From Galenika, Dunav
Osiguranje, to Srbijagas, Dinkic said for NIN.’’