Consultations on the formation of a new Serbian government in Serbia are scheduled to start on 14 July.
The majority of political parties, whose candidates were given a parliamentary seat after the April elections, will respond to the invitation of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić to join the consultations. After the consultations, the constitutive session of the National Parliament, scheduled for 25, 26 or 27 July, should take place.
Vučić will meet the national minority lists on the first day of the consultations. The leader of the Union of Hungarians of Vojvodina, Istvan Pasztor, has said that he will respond to the invitation, as will the MP from the Coalition of Albanians, Shaip Kamberi, and representatives of the Party for Justice and Reconciliation (SPP). The representative of the Democratic Union of Croats in Vojvodina, which will have its representative in the Serbian Parliament for the first time, Tomislav Žigmanov, also confirmed that he will attend the consultations.
For the representatives of the parties that have been in power so far, the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and the Serbian Socialist Party (SPS), there is no doubt about their willingness to continue working together. As for the SNS, usually, the party’s vice-presidents would meet with the President for consultations and this time around, Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, Finance Minister Siniša Mali, Novi Sad Mayor Miloš Vučević and future MPs Vladimir Orlić and Nevena Đurić will meet with the Serbian president, as will representatives of the SPS and Jedinstvena Srbija.
When it comes to the opposition parties, particularly the pro-European ones, the situation is somewhat different. Although they participated in the elections, it seems they will not join the talks with Vučić.
Vuk Jeremić, of the People’s Party, announced in early May that he would accept the invitation and this caused outrage in the party leadership. Vladimir Gajić and Siniša Kovačević were vehemently against so the decision was made that no representative of the People’s Party would meet with Vučić.
The Democratic Party and its leader Zoran Lutovac also stated that they ‘did not want to participate in the delusion that is a new government’.
The Ne Davimo Beograd movement is expected to attend the meeting, the Dveri party did not want to make any statements regarding the consultations, while Dragan Đilas’ Freedom and Justice Party (SSP) announced it would attend the consultations.
The SSP’s vice-president Marinika Tepić said it was necessary to talk and work towards reducing tensions.
“From what we understand, the parties that participated in the elections will be invited to the consultations on the formation of Serbia’s government. Accordingly, we will talk to the coalition partners with whom we took part in the elections. As far as the SSP is concerned, we have made it clear that we will be the strongest opposition to the regime, but also that we believe we have to talk and work towards reducing tensions in society. After all, the country’s president has a constitutional obligation to talk to every party that has passed the election threshold, before forming the government,’ said Tepić.
The same attitude is shared by the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), as announced by its leader Miloš Jovanović. “We will respond, of course, because it is the right thing to do and it is also showing respect for the democratic order and parliamentary logic, institutions and the very function of the President of the State, but also showing respect towards the voters who have put their trust in us, and the President of the Republic himself,” Jovanović said.
The president of the Zavetnici movement, Milica Đurđević Stamenkovski, has confirmed that she has also received an invitation for consultations.
“There is no reason to question the meeting with the country’s president, since that is his, as well as ours, constitutional and moral obligation. We will insist on the revision of the Brussels Agreements, but for the National Parliament to openly say that we are not going to impose sanctions on any independent country,’ she added.
(Blic, 12.07.2022)
This post is also available in: Italiano