Ex President: I am Using all means in Struggle for Minimum Electoral Standards  

Boris Tadic (Beta/Milan Obradovic)

The Social Democratic Party president and the former Serbian President, Boris Tadic, has said that his party has decided to fight all the way and by using all available means to ensure minimum electoral standards under which the party could run in the next elections.

“A decision on whether we will run, will be made timely,” Tadic told the Oct. 21 issue of Belgrade weekly NIN. Tadic also said his party had announced it would participate in all the bodies the formation of which had been agreed in the inter-party dialogue, brokered by the European Parliament.

According to Tadic, there is no chance of ensuring ideal electoral standards, noting that his party is aware of its responsibility as an opposition party to do everything in its power to ensure at least minimum standards for democratic elections.  

Asked when and based on what his party was planning to decide on the presidential elections, Tadic replied that a decision would “definitely not be based on whether the bloc comprising the Party of Freedom and Justice, the Democratic Party and the People’s Party will have their candidate.” He stressed that “a candidate of any bloc does not influence his decision in political, moral or any other way.”

“What would be of influence is a joint candidate of the entire opposition, if I assessed that candidate could defeat (Serbian President Aleksandar) Vucic, but that candidate would also have to be capable of successfully dealing with challenges that would remain after the incumbent regime. I have said on several occasions that I would put all my knowledge and experience at disposal of such a candidate,” Tadic specified.