Vucic: I Would Very Much Like to See the Opposition Run in Elections

Aleksandar Vucic (Photo: Beta / Emil Vas)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Aug. 13 that he would very much like to see the opposition participating in elections and that this would be the best for Serbia, as the citizens could thus see who enjoys support and to what extent.

In an interview with the RTS public service he added that he is ready to do much to “eliminate the pointless story” about election conditions from public discourse.

“Fix the voter rolls. Add to them anything you want, any name you wish. I’ll accept almost anything where it comes to voter rolls and the financing of political parties,” the president added.

Vucic denied that opposition representatives invited him to talk with them, emphasizing that he will personally talk with them only in line with his constitutional powers, i.e. in the parliament.

“I will talk with those who cross the election threshold. With [the president of the Movement of Free Citizens] Sergej Trifunovic if he runs in the vote, [the president of the Serbian Radical Party] Vojislav Seselj and [the president of the Socialist Party of Serbia] Ivica Dacic,” he said.

When asked to comment on the meetings of representatives of the government and the opposition, Vucic said that the issue of Kosovo is of much greater importance. He underlined that currently there are no negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina, but that there are all sorts of pressures requiring that this matter be dealt with every single day.

“You are not asking me how we managed to supply the stores in Kosovo with goods, who are the people who worked on that day and night, but we are faced instead with questions about things that will take place in eight months,” the president said.