Byzantine Blog

Nikolic Elected as President of the Serbian National Assembly

Tomislav Nikolic of the Serbian Radical Party was elected on Tuesday as the new leader of the Serbian Parliament following the general elections on Jan. 21, Serbian Government said.

Nikolic received 142 votes from the 244 lawmakers present at a marathon 15-hour Parliamentary session, defeating Milena Milosevic of Tadic’s Democratic Party, who got 99 votes.

Nikolic secured his success by gaining support of Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica’s Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS).

Nikolic is deputy leader of the Radicals, Serbia’s strongest party, whose leader Vojislav Seselj is detained for five years in the Hague Kangaroo Court awaiting trial, based on the falsified indictment written by Soros-funded NGO’s in Belgrade. According to the independent political analysts, the true reason behind issuing indictment for the leader of Serbian Radicals was to remove him from Serbia’s political scene in order to marginalize Serbian Radical Party, the most popular patriotic party and the strongest opponent to any possibility of disintegration of the Serbian state.

Even though the election of deputy leader of Serbian Radical Party to the position of Parliament President was entirely democratic and based on the election results in which the Radicals have won most — the third of eligible votes — predictably, the reaction to Mr. Nikolic’s appointment from the EU officials, Western mainstream media, and Western-financed Serbian parties and media was very loud and extremely negative.

Serbia has been in political turmoil since the weekend when the staunchly EU-oriented Democratic Party (DS) of Boris Tadic and Prime Minister Kostunica’s patriotic DSS failed to form a coalition government after disputes over how key cabinet posts would be distributed. Forming the coalition between these two parties was directly obstructed when European Union High Representative for foreign policy and security Javier Solana interfered, asserting that it is of crucial importance that the security sector in Serbia should remain under Tadic’s control.

Accusing Brussels of treating Serbia as a colony, while assigning its ministerial posts to those EU officials find suitable and calling on to Tadic’s party members to refuse to cow to the NATO/EU dictate, Kostunica’s Democratic Party of Serbia announced it will back the Radical Party’s nominee for the post of Parliament President, since without the coalition agreement, the position belongs to the representative of the party with most Parliament seats won in the elections.

Under the Serbian constitution, Tadic could call new elections if the deadlock in forming a new government is not broken by midnight on May 14.

Prime Minister Kostunica’s Party: Javier Solana Will Not Form Serbian Government

Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) whip in the Serbian parliament Milos Aligrudic said Monday that Prime Minister Kostunica’s party has been excluded from the negotiations on the new government because someone outside Serbia does not want DSS in the government.

Addressing the afternoon session of the parliament, Aligrudic cited the statement made earlier in the day in Brussels by European Union High Representative for foreign policy and security Javier Solana, who said that he has conferred with Serbian President and Democratic Party (DS) leader Boris Tadic and told him that the security sector should be under Tadic’s control.

Aligrudic told Tanjug that DSS cannot accept any discussion with foreigners on the composition of the Serbian government and that DSS President and Serbia’s Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica will not agree to confer with Solana on this issue.

Interference in the internal affairs of a country constitutes flagrant violation of its sovereignty, Aligrudic said, adding that when he makes this clear to DS, they feel insulted and claim that they are being accused of treason.

Kosovo-Metohija Serbs Hail Election of Nikolic as Parliament President

Serbian National Council of northern Kosovo and Metohija hailed on Tuesday the election of Tomislav Nikolic as Serbian National Assembly President.

Welcoming the decision of DSS-NS and SPS to vote for Nikolic, Serbian National Council of northern Kosovo-Metohija assessed it attested to “their political responsibility and determination to make possible, by the constitution of parliament, a normal functioning of the Serbian state.”

Serbian National Council, the statement said, voices satisfaction that at the head of the Serbian Parliament is a personality whose “political and overall priority are basic national and states interests, first and foremost the preservation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia.”

Similarly, most Serbian voters that were worried by the fact Serbia’s position has been weakened at the politically most sensitive time, due to the fact it does not have the key government institutions in place after January 21 elections, are grateful and relived that the National Assembly has been constituted. It is believed that the party representatives and politicians who appear desperate and eager to do everything in their power to obstruct the work of Parliament will pay a high price at the next elections for their lack of responsibility and exhibited power-hunger that puts perceived personal and party interests above the crucial national interest — to have strong, functional state institutions that can respond appropriately to all the challenges Serbia is currently facing.

Russian Ambassador to Serbia Congratulates Nikolic

Newly appointed President of the Serbian National Assembly Tomislav Nikolic on Tuesday received Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Serbia Alexander Alexeev, the Parliament said in a statement.

Alexeev congratulated Nikolic on his election as Parliament President and conveyed the congratulations of Russia’s State Duma President Boris Gryzlov and Vice-President Sergey Baburin, and those of Chairman of the Council of Federation Sergey Mironov.

Nikolic thanked for the support so far and expressed his confidence that the bilateral relations of the two countries will continue to develop successfully and that inter-parliamentary cooperation will be particularly strengthened, it was said in the statement.