Socialists’ Official Toma Fila: We Have a Majority in Belgrade, but Didn’t Want To Form City Government

Toma Fila (BETAPHOTO/DRAGAN GOJIC/DS)

The Socialist Party of Serbia candidate for Belgrade mayor in the December elections and a famous attorney, Toma Fila, on Feb. 20 said that his and the Serbian Progressive Party together “have more than 56 aldermen,” which represented a necessary majority to take control of the city, but added that they “did not want to form a government” on Feb. 19.

The constitutive session of the Belgrade City Assembly, initially scheduled for Feb. 19 has been pushed back until March 1, as the aldermen of the Socialists and the Progressives decided not to enter the hall leaving the body without the necessary quorum. 

Fila, who is presiding over the City Assembly as the oldest alderman, told TV Nova that support to forming a new city government had been confirmed by four aldermen who had run in elections with other tickets, but he did not disclose their names.  

Fila noted that “taking two aldermen from here, and two from there” would cast a shadow over a new city government, fostering suspicions that the aldermen had been bought. 

Fila also said that the Progressives and the Socialists, who together had 54 aldermen in the 110-seat City Assembly, wanted the entire ticket We - The Voice of the People to back a future city government as it would give it full legitimacy. “It is why the formation of a city government has been postponed for ten days for to once again try to persuade (We - The Voice of the People ticket leader Branimir) Nestorovic to provide their backing,” Fila said.