Nikolic And Tadic Discuss Serbia’s Future
By Bojana Barlovac
Tomislav Nikolic, Serbia’s President-Elect, and Boris Tadic, the country’s former president, have agreed that a new government must be formed as soon as possible.
Tadic and Nikolic met on Monday at the presidential building in Belgrade to “discuss the transfer of duties”.
The pair talked about the goals that Serbia should achieve including better living standard, solving economic problems, European integration, fight against crime and corruption.
Tadic, who briefly addressed media with Nikolic, said they have agreed that it was necessary to establish all the institutions as soon as possible.
“We talked about how important it is to avoid an institutional vacuum, that takeover passes smoothly, and how institutions should be constituted at all levels – local, national and presidential,” Tadic told reporters.
Nikolic thanked Tadic for the good start to their working relationship, and said that he would make every effort to build the economy and fight crime.
He also said that he “will not hesitate to give a mandate [to form a new government] to those who have provided the majority of 126 deputies in the parliament.”
According to the Serbian constitution, Nikolic, as Serbia’s president-elect, is supposed to offer the mandate to the party which won the majority of votes, which is the Progressives. In case they are unable to form the government, Democrats, as the second best, will form it.
At the end of the brief press conference, Tadic and Nikolic shook hands and asked to be photographed in front of the Serbian flag.
Afterwards they returned to the talks where they were joined by Slavica Djukic Dejanovic and Ivica Dacic, both from the Socialist Party of Serbia.
The Democrats who won 67 seats in the parliament in the May 6 elections have been holding unofficial talks with the Socialists, who won 44 seats, about forming the new government. Third coalition partner is yet to be found but it is likely to be either the Liberal Democratic Party or the United Regions of Serbia.
Dacic, the leader of the Socialists, said couple of times that he would like Tadic to be the next prime minister.
On Sunday, after days of mulling over whether to accept the post of Serbia’s prime minister after losing in the presidential elections, Tadic said yes.
