Dacic urges citizens to vote carefully

ZRENJANIN - Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) leader Ivica Dacic has urged Serbian citizens to vote carefully in the March 16 early parliamentary elections, adding that once the elections are over, there will be "no room for regrets until the next elections".

The coalition consisting of the SPS, the Party of United Pensioners of Serbia (PUPS) and United Serbia is backed by results, which are a guarantee to the citizens of what is also to come in the future, he said late Monday.

"There will be no room for regrets until the next elections," the SPS leader said, warning that, once the upcoming elections are over, "workers should not come to ask why they have lost their jobs and pensioners should not complain about frozen pensions or a lack of education opportunities for young people."

Provincial elections need to be held in Vojvodina, Dacic said, adding that Serbia's northern province needs to have autonomy, but only as part of Serbia.

"Vojvodina will always be in Serbia. No one should harbour false hopes and make promises that Vojvodina will be a republic or have its own constitution. We will not let you have a constitution and be a republic, but you will be fully autonomous and the most developed part of Serbia," Dacic told a convention in Zrenjanin, Vojvodina.

PUPS deputy leader Milan Krkobabic said that Serbia's senior citizens need not worry, because pensions will remain pegged to salaries.

Pensions are low, but the PUPS has made it possible for pensioners receiving below RSD 15,000 to be given a 13th pension in the same amount, Krkobabic said.

Photo Tanjug/N. Milosevic