Source: B92, Beta
BELGRADE—PM Vojislav Koštunica has announced today that the conditions for his cabinet to continue work do not exist.
Koštunica, who is also the leader of the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), was holding an extraordinary news conference at the seat of the Serbian government in Belgrade when he said that its mandate now needs to be returned to the people.
The prime minister believes that the most rational move would be to schedule the parliamentary elections along the local and provincial votes, called for May 11.
Koštunica also said that he has called his cabinet to meet on March 10, where the decision to dissolve the government and schedule the new elections will be discussed.
Koštunica specified that a lack of a unified position on Kosovo is the reason for the government’s collapse.
Koštunica, who has not formally resigned, said that he informed his coalition partners and the largest opposition party, the Radicals (SRS), about his decision to announce that the cabinet can no longer function.
He specified that Brussels has enabled all its member states to individually recognize Kosovo Albanians’ unilateral declaration of independence, which also gave them the green light to trample on the UN Charter, EU’s Founding Act and UN Resolution 1244.
Koštunica said he is convinced that the latest developments will not bring instability to the country, with all its institutions functioning.
Asked why the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) was initialed last year, while he now opposes its signing, Koštunica said the initialed text guaranteed Serbia’s territorial integrity with Kosovo inside its borders, “unlike the situation today”.
“After the unilateral declaration and recognition things are different and it would be good if the agreement could be signed in the shape in which it was initialed. It cannot be ratified by all the EU countries individually and those who have recognized Kosovo’s independence cannot accept an agreement that says Serbia is a whole state with Kosovo in its borders,” Koštunica explained.
The EU has in January decided not to sign the SAA, demanding full cooperation with the Hague from Serbia.
The government was put together less than a year ago, and is made up of the Democratic Party (DS), the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), New Serbia (NS) and G17 Plus.
Ever since the presidential elections on Feb. 3, Serbia’s ruling coalition has been embroiled in a deep crisis over differences over policies on European integration and Kosovo.
Koštunica’s DSS said it would support a Serb Radical Party (SRS) resolution in parliament, calling on the EU to “clearly and unambiguously” confirm Serbia’s territorial integrity, as a condition for further European integration.
The DSS’s coalition partners in the government, the Democratic Party (DS) and G17 Plus, have said that they will not support the resolution, claiming that its aim is not the defense of Kosovo, but putting a halt to European integration.
The prime minister said yesterday that he no longer had confidence in the sincerity of his coalition partners to fight for Kosovo, confirming that the clashes within the government were escalating.
DS whip Nada Kolundžija said that early elections were one solution if the ruling coalition’s aim of European integration had changed.
While Infrastructure Minister and New Serbia leader Velimir Ilić believed that the way out of the crisis was the dismissal of Economy Minister and G17 Plus leader Mlađan Dinkić; G17 Plus said that the problem could be solved by elections.
The SRS have not yet explicitly stated whether they favour elections or are ready to form a new ruling majority with the DSS.
SRS General Secretary Aleksandar Vučić called on the members of the ruling coalition to leave the government if they could not agree on the country’s future.
The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has been insisting on early parliamentary elections for some time now since the slow-down in European integration.
Socialist Party of Serbia leader Ivica Dačić called for a government of national unity to be formed, including those parties that shared similar views on national policy.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
So, elections within a couple of months at most.
What is the likely shape of the next coalition?
And will Kostunica be able to cling on to the position of PM?
Unless the press conference was a last ditch ploy to get more concessions out of DS/G17,
No, Koštunica was pretty clear: he himself even proposed May 11th to be the election day.
Since his coalition partners (DS and G17+) agree that this is an acceptable way out of this political limbo, I think the whole thing is pretty much wraped up.
Ian, above all it was the signal of the end of the government, but as you suggest its not final as the government has to agree at its next session on Monday, so in a sense its the last punch thrown by Kostunica.
Behind the scenes Kostunica was trying to negotiate setting up a minority government with support from the radicals. He wanted G17 out and to try to force DS out as well (if they did not back down), so he could run the government, at least for a few months, on his own. The radicals were not having any of it and DS won’t quit the government.
Kostunica is calculating that he will be hold all the cards again and in a sense he will as he will hold the balance of power. However, its not as strong this time, as he cant flirt between the two blocks any longer. If DS maintains position (on EU etc), which it will, Kostunica’s only possible partner is SRS. But as SRS wont be able to win outright, there he is again.
At this point a SRS / DSS government looks the most likely – oh and any ‘incidents’ in Kosovo will play into the hands of DSS / SRS, particularly if Kosovo Albanians undertake some kind of activities either on their own initiative or as a response to Serb moves. The same goes for international troops. Radicalisation will be welcomed by DSS / SRS.
The big question is whether the Serbian electorate is willing to decide its future only on one issue – Kosovo. That is the only topic that SRS / DSS will offer, although I expect some ‘arrest all criminals’ rhetoric from SRS in the campaign.
It would take a miracle now for the remainder of the democratic block to be able to form a government, in this situation. It might sound extraordinary but I would not completely exclude support from SPS to prop up a potential DS, G17, LDP, minority government. If SRS / DSS form some kind of coalition then SPS will choose self interest about any ‘principle’ although it will be hard to justify to some of their supporters, and it will be very hard to justify to LDP also. But look at the alternative…
I’d say that Serbia is in deep trouble right now, more trouble than at any time since Milosevic’s reign.