Many people believe that victory of Tomislav Nikolic, the candidate of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), in the second round of the presidential elections which were held in 2012, was due to the support of the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS). However, the agreement signed by then the leaders of the two parties is binding only for DSS.
As top SNS officials claim, Progressives are interested in reforms and the entry of Serbia into the EU, which implies a change in the Constitution.
The agreement on the support which DSS gave to Nikolic in the second round of presidential elections stipulated, among other things, that “in the Serbian Parliament DSS and SNS will have coordinated policy in relation to the military and political neutrality of Serbia, about which the citizens will vote in a referendum”. It was also agreed that “the Constitution of Serbia will not change without the consent of both parties.”
“All parliamentary parties agree to amend the Constitution, with the general consensus. This means a willingness to talk with the DSS, which is not part of the parliament,” said chief of the SNS caucus Zoran Babic, when asked whether the Progressives are obliged to respect the signature of the “father” of the party. Babic, added that “the majority cannot be a slave to the minority, and to the policy of the party which is against the EU.
“It is obvious that for Mr. Babic a word or signature of Tomislav Nikolic’s do not worth anything. It is not nice that he expresses such disrespect to Mr. Nikolic,” told Aleksandar Popovic, Vice President of DSS.
Till the recent official announcement of changes to the Constitution, DSS did not publicly reminded SNS about the agreement on support to Nikolic, signed two years ago. According to the unofficial information, this topic was discussed at DSS Presidency meetings, but there was no answer to the question of whether Nikolic, at least informally, was reminded about the agreement. It is also unclear if this matter was discussed with his successor in the SNS, Aleksandar Vucic, who participated in making agreement with Kostunica.
“The fate of the agreement speaks about relationships within the SNS, where the signature of the former president is not considered as binding by his successor. This is a picture of the wider Serbian political scene in which the agreements, contracts and signatures are not binding to the signatories. But it also speaks about the way of understanding and managing of the DSS policy and Vojislav Kostunica,” said Djordje Vukadinovic, editor in chief of the NSPM newspaper.
Vukadinović believes that “a loose form of the agreement left a room for manipulation and DSS was betrayed.” “In the agreement there is no suggestion that the Constitution of Serbia will not change, but it expresses the coordination of positions between the two parties. DSS has shown political naivety, but it also deliberately made room for manipulation. Statements of the SNS officials are a bit arrogant, but flexible formulation of the agreement does not bind Progressives. We should not forget that the main motive of DSS for the agreement and support to Nikolic was a political vendetta and revenge to DS and Boris Tadic. On the other hand, from 2008 till 2012, the DSS gave opposition and patriotic legitimacy to the Progressives,” explained Djordje Vukadinovic.
