Economic and financial problems and high expectations of the voters that it is possible to bring about big changes in a short time will be the biggest challenges of the new government, according to the interlocutors of "Vijesti".
They emphasize that the first challenge that awaits the new executive power is the sustainability of the country's public finances, preventing the further outflow of state money into private pockets and problems related to employment.
Goran Svilanović, whose party as part of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) formed the Government in 2000 after the fall of Slobodan Milošević's regime, told "Vijesti" that the new government will first of all have difficult challenges of an economic nature, due to the dramatic impact of the pandemic on the tourist season. , falling incomes and rising unemployment.
"So, economic and financial problems, problems related to employment, will be the biggest challenge for the new government. Also, I believe that internal political differences in a possible new coalition will be present and let's say that this is one of the similarities with what we were going through. I hope that there will not be such dramatic disagreements about the future of the country. I don't wish that on anyone," said Svilanović. He was the leader of the Civic Alliance of Serbia, which was part of a broad grouping of 18 political parties and the DOS movement that aimed to overthrow the Milosevic regime. The first government that was formed in Serbia after the 2000 elections was an expert government, as a result of an agreement within the DOS...
Svilanović said that he does not think that the new government faces major problems in regional or foreign policy, nor that its relationship with the state administration will pose a major problem.
The real challenges, as he assessed, are related to the economy and the high expectations of the voters - that it is possible to bring big changes in a short time that everyone will feel personally.
"Therefore, my advice would be that the new ministers behave in such a way that through the reform of the public administration they strengthen its professionalism and efficiency. Also, to ensure that they strengthen the rule of law by strengthening the independence of the judiciary and the independence of important national institutions", said Svilanović.
In all of this, as he assessed, the process of joining the European Union will be of greatest help to them.
"I think they should turn to Brussels and all EU members and ask for support for the continuation of membership negotiations, in the hope that, in the otherwise not very new members of the open European policy, they will be able to turn the tide and speed up the negotiations, and maybe even end them. for the mandate of the new European Commission", said Svilanović, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia and Montenegro.
He pointed out that the possible membership of Montenegro would be the fulfillment of the promise of enlargement commissioner Oliver Varhelji, and would be a strong incentive for Serbia and other neighbors.
He pointed out that the new government should make an effort to strengthen the social, economic and ethnic cohesion of Montenegrin society.
Legal adviser of the NGO Action for Social Justice (ASP) Ines Mrdović assessed that the new government with its decisions and actions must "show its teeth" and demonstrate essential and just, not cosmetic reforms, because citizens are equally affected by poverty and long-standing injustice.
"The system of a narrow circle of privileged people and the system of 'I have power - no responsibility' must become a thing of the past and the new Government must confirm at the very beginning of its mandate that it is going in that direction."
Mrdović pointed out that the first and biggest challenge that awaits the new Government is the sustainability of the country's public finances and the prevention of further outflow of state money into private pockets:
"At the same time, I'm not only referring to the state and local budgets, but also to public companies that annually generate hundreds of millions of euros, and there is no serious control over the spending of that money."
Mrdović said that the new government will have to come up with a fiscal strategy as a matter of urgency, through which they will have to show what will be the cuts and what will be the new sources of income, which is a special challenge for the economic system severely affected by the corona crisis:
"In this sense, changing the tax policy that will take more from the rich, as well as the concession policy, where until now privileged individuals gave the state crumbs, should be among the priorities."
She pointed out that the new government will immediately have to establish clear criteria for capital investments, so that they no longer serve to fill the pockets of privileged private companies, "but to really know what this country and its citizens need, and not for a few people to sit down which arranges them".
Mrdović said that state administration is also one of the "burning" problems.
"In order to solve the problem of excessive employment and open the way to an efficient and competent administration, the new government will have to change those provisions of the Law on Civil Servants and the Law on Local Self-Government that 'cement' party, not professional, employment".
She pointed out that the new authorities are announcing a determined fight against corruption, so they "should be aware that the first step in that direction means that you must exclude corrupt provisions from a series of laws and by-laws, and that every contract... that will be concluded in the future must have an anti-corruption clause, and that the Criminal Code should be amended".
Mrdović pointed out that electoral, judicial or security reform are also huge new challenges, but that they should be thoroughly prepared and entered into that story from next year.
"However, in a complex and never-greater challenge, what the new authorities should never allow themselves to do is violate the Constitution and the law, because then they would not differ much from the outgoing three-decade-old group and that would be disastrous for the further development of democracy in the country ".
Key decisions to be made in the first few months
Comparing the situation they faced after the formation of the Government in 2000 in Serbia with the current one in Montenegro, Svilanović said that there are similarities in the situation in which the new executive power will find itself when it is formed, but that there are also differences, "and a full parallel cannot be drawn between these two situations”.
"I believe that one of the similarities is the ignorance of the state administration, which can be a problem for the new ministers in Montenegro, as it was for us. In addition to not knowing each other, I believe that they will also be met with mistrust. I also encountered that".
Svilanović said that in the first few months there was complete acceptance, possibly due to some fear, but that later changed - primarily because the new team of political leaders who led the country were divided among themselves over some of the most sensitive issues. This, as he said, enabled everyone in the country, including civil servants, to slowly start taking sides in the disagreement within the new government.
"If I were to dare to give advice, then I would just say that all key decisions, both programmatic and organizational, should be made right away in the first few months of the new government. What is not done in the first six months, it may not be possible to do by the end of the new government's term".
Answering the question why the expert government in Serbia did not last longer, Svilanović said that the government of the late Zoran Đinđić was partly political and partly expert:
"Those two parts were clearly profiled and recognizable. Those who were an expert part of the government are still present today in the Serbian public, and each of them has an enviable career to this day." As he reminded, the government lasted until the next election - three and a half years, and after it came a government that in some areas continued the work of the previous one, and in other areas had a different policy in accordance with the election results.
"I am sure that the key change was a consequence of the assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić. Without him, it was difficult to lead the country in the same way, especially in relation to the most important problems that were still present, the relationship to the past, cooperation with the Tribunal, the unresolved status of Kosovo".
Djindjic was elected Prime Minister of Serbia on January 25, 2001, after the victory of DOS in the parliamentary elections in December 2000. He was killed on March 12, 2003, in the courtyard of the Serbian Government building, in the center of Belgrade...
In the parliamentary elections on August 30, the "For the Future of Montenegro" coalition won 27 mandates, the "Peace is our nation" alliance won 10, and the "Black on White" coalition won four mandates. Together, these three opposition blocs have a majority of 41 mandates in the Assembly.
On Thursday, President Milo Đukanović sent the Assembly a proposal that the leader of the coalition "For the Future of Montenegro" Zdravko Krivokapić be the representative. According to the Constitution, 90 days is the deadline for the formation of the Government, after the President nominates a candidate for the first time.
Krivokapić announced that the Government will be formed by November 8...
The new majority must prepare the budget for 2021.
Mrdović assessed that due to the financial situation in the country, the new president does not have the luxury of forming a government for a month.
"He must propose it as soon as possible, unless he thinks that he will enter the first year of his mandate with a budget that will be packed for him by the outgoing DPS Government. The legal deadlines for the budget are clear - it must go to the Government by the end of October, and it must submit it to the Parliament by the middle of November".
She said that Duško Marković's cabinet is working at full speed, even though it is in a technical mandate, "so it would be paradoxical if the new majority does not even finalize the budget for the next year, but the level of indebtedness, income and spending is created by the outgoing government, despite the fact that there is room for the action of the new majority during the debate in the Assembly".
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