Dacic Denies that Absence of Agreement between his Socialists and Ruling Party Delays Belgrade Polls

Ivica Dacic (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)

The Socialist Party of Serbia leader, Ivica Dacic, dismissed on March 13 allegations that the Belgrade election date, originally April 28, was moved to June 2 because the Serbian Progressive Party and his Socialists had failed to reach an agreement as to how to proceed in the next polls.

“It’s nonsense. To postpone polls over such a thing? Like, we don’t have an agreement, and now we are bargaining, or what? On day one we said we were running together in Belgrade,” Dacic said in an interview with the Pink TV.

The Socialist leader explained that other local elections were yet to be scheduled, but that the idea was that the Socialists and the Progressives should try to run together in all Serbia’s municipalities in which local polls were to be held. When asked about negotiations with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic as to the offices the Socialists could hope for in the next cabinet, Dacic said they were not discussed.

In a comment on the European Parliament’s resolution suggesting that an independent international commission be set up to look into alleged irregularities in Serbia’s elections last December, Dacic said that the European Union “has no intention whatsoever” to send an international commission to deal with Serbian elections.