Vucic: Three to Four Possibilities for New PM

Serbian Government building (BETAPHOTO/NENAD PETROVIC)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on March 22 that there were three or four names in play for the premier-designate for Serbia's new government and that he would only discuss the subject with political parties that were interested in one to avoid what he described as a "circus."

"After I return from Brussels, I will speak with people from political parties. To avoid creating a circus, only with those who want to talk and wish this. Whoever wants to and has the majority can say whom they want for the premier-designate. I assume they will ask me for advice. I hear that there are three or four names that they are considering. I will give my opinion. Whether they take it or not is another matter," Vucic said while visiting the village of Borovac as part of a tour of the Toplica and Jablanica districts.

He said that the opponents of the government were offering "a naked dictatorship where no one will have the right to a different opinion. They would fashion a Khmer Rouge camp regime." Vucic was alluding to a rally of university students and other citizens to protest a meeting of Serbian Progressive Party members at the Nis Officer's Club on March 21, which was supposed to have included party president Milos Vucevic, Belgrade chapter head Ana Brnabic and steering commission chair Darko Glisic.

The protesters egged the Progressive party members who attended the meeting. Vucevic, Brnabic and Glisic did not attend. Nis Mayor Dragoslav Pavlovic said the reason was "a high security risk." After the protest rally, Pavlovic was pelted in the street with eggs and stones, and had water poured on him.