THE PRESIDENTS of the SPS and United Serbia, Ivica Dacic and Dragan Markovic Palma, signed a coalition agreement today on the continuation of cooperation and joint participation of the two parties in the upcoming presidential, parliamentary and local elections.
Photo: Tanjug
According to the agreement, SPS and JS agree that the coalition has a common candidate or to provide support to the joint candidate of the ruling coalition in the presidential elections, which, as it is pointed out, will be decided by the bodies of the two parties.
After signing the agreement in the premises of JS, Dacic said that the agreement was a response to media speculations about the alleged rift in the SPS-JS coalition and a clear message to citizens and members that the parties are satisfied with the cooperation and results so far and are ready to continue joint action.
The leader of the Socialists said that he did not know when the speculations that the two parties were arguing over the distribution of mandates came from, and he emphasized that it was never a topic of conversation.
– Certainly, many options do not like the fact that we are in a joint coalition and we would like to break up, to weaken the bloc that is still strong – said Dacic.
As he says, the central topic for the SPS-JS coalition is going to the polls, that is, what is the best formula for our coalition. “Now we are talking with the SNS about what is better, what would bring the largest number of votes, whether one joint list or separate lists in the parliamentary elections,” said Dacic.
He reminded that the SPS had talks with the SNS twice about participating in the elections, and that it had been agreed that the consultations would continue when there was a more certain picture of how the opposition would perform in the upcoming elections.
– We have not yet taken a definite position on that, but the desire and decision to go to the elections together is indisputable.
“As it will be in the parliamentary elections, it will also be in the city elections,” Dacic repeated.
He pointed out that the SPS-JS coalition is one of the longest-running political coalitions and that the two parties started cooperation 13 years ago, in the 2008 elections.
As he says, they have always been guided by the common goals of building a modern and strong Serbia, guided by the interests of the state, and not by the narrow party interests.
– We are committed to the protection of national and state interests, and the other foundation of our cooperation is the policy of social justice and balanced development of the whole of Serbia and a policy that will take into account the interests of ordinary people – said Dacic.
Markovic said that no one can quarrel between SPS and JS, and that the opposition is behind the stories about the rift.
– We bother them because we last a long time – concluded Markovic.
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