Is the formation of the new Serbian government being delayed, which parties will make up the government, apart from the SNS and representatives of national minorities, and what kind of policy will it lead?
Questions are many, and there is only one certainty for now – Aleksandar Vučić decides on everything.
The official deadline of 90 days (for the formation of the new government) began on August 1st and, judging by past experience, the final decision on the new government members will be made at the last moment, considering that Vučić has already moved that deadline to the end of this month.
Satisfying various interests
Journalist Nedim Sejdinović comments for DW on the process of forming a new government: “The process is complicated in any case because Vučić is trying to satisfy various interests – from the international factors to internal interest groups – so that process is slowed down simply because it is like that when only one person has a final say, but also because of the complex international and internal situation.”
It is not quite certain that the whole process will have been completed by the end of August, adds Sejdinović, because the tactics of the SNS is to buy time. “I think that the speed of forming the government can only be affected by some serious external pressure, but at least for now, it seems that Vučić is not reacting to that pressure…”
On the other hand, the head of CeSID, Bojan Klačar says that he can find any sound reason for the formation of the new Serbian government to be significantly delayed: “My assessment is that SNS does not have too many reasons to prolong the formation of government… It is clear that the war in Ukraine will unfortunately not end soon, so it seems to me that this reaso does not make much sense at the moment.”
Klačar also notes that the delays in the formation of the new government have been in practice since 2016. “The difference today is that the formation of the executive power is prolonged due to the extended election cycle. In any case, I don’t see any political reason for it to be delayed and I even think that the SNS has more reasons to speed up that process,” he adds.
When it comes to the position of prime minister, the current Prime Minister Ana Brnabić remains the favourite candidate with Marko Đurić, the current ambassador of Serbia to the USA, being one of the possible solutions. As an explanation, the fact that he managed to arrange a short meeting with Joseph Biden and that this might be a signal for stronger ties with Washington is offered, but our interlocutors believe that Đurić has been the US ambassador for a short time and that his influence on Serbian-American relations is not that great.
“It is obvious that Ana Brnabić proved to be cooperative. She is ready to fulfil everything the chief says,” points out Nedim Sejdinović.
Bojan Klačar draws attention to the fact that “Ana Brnabić already has substantial political experience and enjoys Vučić’s trust.” “On the other hand, it seems that experimenting with new names at this moment would be less useful for the ruling party, bearing in mind all the challenges that Serbia is facing,” Klačar concludes.
(Deutsche Welle, 12.08.2022)
https://www.dw.com/sr/nova-vlada-srbije-iznena%C4%91enja-na-pomolu/a-62785162
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