Tadic: NDS will be opposition

BELGRADE - Leader of the New Democratic Party (NDS) Boris Tadic said Thursday that the party will be in opposition to the new government despite agreeing with the program of the future prime minister, as it cannot be a part of the government which comprises the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS).

NDS, as well as the parties gathered around it, will not join the government, or contribute individual candidates, Tadic told a press conference.

A government that includes SPS does not provide sufficient guarantees that the work ahead of it will be successful, said Tadic, and expressed belief that the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) will grow aware of that fact.

"Looking back, it is clear that the SPS did not contribute to the development of Serbia by supporting reforms and investment policy, and the examples are public companies ran by that party, where today the reforms are urgent," Tadic said.

How is it possible to reform the public sector if the government includes SPS, which increased the debt of public gas supplier Srbijagas to “unbearable” level and which drove the insurance sector public company Dunav osiguranje to ruin, he wondered.

When asked about the NDS plans as an opposition party, Tadic said that the party is ready to cooperate with the government on matters of importance to the state and its citizens.

There is not a single party in Serbia which has sufficient number of capable politicians to run the country, he added.

Serbia has to abandon the policy of conflicts which marked the past decades, because it is the only way to achieve strategic goals for the state and the people, said Tadic, noting that this will be the party's political credo in the parliament.

"The eight...