VZCZCXRO1462
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHBW #0059/01 0211328
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 211328Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY BELGRADE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0890
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RHEHNS/NSC WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BELGRADE 000059 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O.12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL SR
SUBJECT: SERBIA: EX-RADICALS ENTER LOCAL GOVERNMENT FOR THE FIRST 
TIME 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU) The local branch of the Serbian Progressive Party joined 
in forming the municipal government of Prijepolje and is positioned 
to install its local head as mayor of this multiethnic town in the 
Sandzak region of south-western Serbia.  The agreement marks the 
first time that ex-Radical leader Tomislav Nikolic's party has 
formed a governing coalition at the municipal level.  The Prijepolje 
coalition also includes President Tadic's Democratic Party.  The 
SNS's coalition partners on the local level viewed the arrangement 
as a practical necessity to avoid repeat elections and provide 
stability to confront the city's looming economic crisis.  SNS 
pocketed an important victory in the recognition that the former 
Radicals can be viable coalition partners.  End Summary. 
 
Progressives Ready to Take the Reigns 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.   (SBU) Party leaders in Serbia's southwestern city of Prijepolje 
reached a coalition agreement on January 15 that for the first time 
places the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) in a governing coalition 
on the municipal level; the coalition also includes President Boris 
Tadic's Democratic Party (DS).  The SNS won 14.8% in Prijepolje's 
November municipal election, coming in second to the Sandzak 
Democratic Party's (SDP) 26% and slightly more than the "Together 
For A Better Prijepolje" coalition (14.7%) consisting of the DS, G17 
Plus, the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), and the Serbian Renewal 
Movement (SPO).  The agreement between these parties provided the 
governing coalition with 37 out of 61 seats and paved the way for 
the SNS's local chairman, Dragoljub Zindovic, to become mayor of 
Prijepolje. 
 
SNS Ready to Lead 
----------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Zindovic told visiting Emboffs on January 12 that he and 
his party are ready to govern on the principle of compromise. 
Visibly pleased by the attention he received during the visit, 
Zindovic discussed in detail his priorities, including 
infrastructure development, retaining youth in Prijepolje, and 
attracting foreign investment and NGO technical assistance to the 
city.  He said that SNS party leadership had given him room to 
decide his policy positions, but when asked what specific ideas the 
local party offered citizens, Zindovic fell back on the line that 
citizens voted for SNS because of SNS president Tomislav Nikolic. (A 
six-foot poster of Nikolic's smiling face loomed next to Zindovic's 
desk.)  Zindovic said that the local SNS had chosen not to respond 
to Serbian Radical Party (SRS) provocations; he cited as signs of 
the SNS's openness the inclusion of a Bosniak on the SNS party list, 
and the number of local Bosniaks who were joining the party. 
(Comment:  We have not been able to confirm the assertion that the 
SNS is attracting Bosniak members, a claim that strikes us as 
fanciful.  A mere six months ago, the SNS leadership was directed by 
Hague-indicted war criminal Vojislav Seselj and supported his ethnic 
cleansing policies.  End Comment.) 
 
 
SDP Satisfied With Municipal Role 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Local SDP chairman Nedzad Turkovic told us that despite 
having to give up the mayor's office, the SDP had not fared poorly 
in the coalition agreement.  The SDP would obtain the presidency of 
the local parliament, seven seats on the municipal council, the 
taxation and police ministries, and four public companies, including 
public utilities, education, and library.  The reason behind a 
decision to "trade" the mayor's office for national institutions, 
Turkovic said, was SDP's objective to further the integration of 
Bosniaks into the state institutions, in particular the police and 
the taxation office.  The SNS would have two deputies on the 
municipal council, one deputy president of the council, and two 
public companies dealing with museums and tourism, respectively. 
Turkovic said that all parties realized that cooperation with the 
SNS was a practical solutionand that the SDP benefited by placing 
Bosniaks in key positions of state administration.  Claiming that 
efficient government and pro-EU position were the SDP's main selling 
points, Turkovic said his party was seeking to expand its presence 
in other regions of Serbia and currently had 50 branch offices open 
outside of the Sandzak. 
 
DS Prepared to Cooperate 
------------------------ 
 
 
BELGRADE 00000059  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) Prijepolje's interim mayor and DS chief Dobro Lazarevic 
told us that his party recognized that cooperation with the SNS was 
necessary to achieve a functioning local government.  Asserting that 
the SNS was distinctly different from the SRS, Lazarevic said that 
differences between the parties on the local level were small 
because all were focused on solving the immediate problems of 
improving Prijepolje's meager living standards.  Lazarevic said that 
failure to maintain steady local governance amid the economic crisis 
would result in socio-economic "radicalization," which he did not 
consider to be defined in ethnic terms. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The agreement installing Zindovic as mayor marks an 
important victory in the SNS's efforts to portray itself as 
different than the Radicals and as a mainstream, responsible party. 
The agreement with the Bosniak SDP and the DS in the heart of the 
multi-ethnic Sandzak region gives the SNS room to claim that it is 
able to work effectively with parties previously excoriated by the 
SRS.  Although Nikolic said in November that the SNS was only 
willing to work with the DS on the local level, the local coalition 
will be watched closely in Belgrade by those who wonder if the SNS 
could be a potential future coalition partner.  In spite of the 
Progressives' attempts to make themselves "legitimate," they are 
only just now talking the talk, and even do that selectively.  At a 
year end poll of the 100 most influential people in Serbia, SNS 
President Nikolic said that for 2008 the most influential person in 
the world was Hugo Chavez and the most significant event was the 
former President Bush getting shoes thrown at him in Baghdad 
incident.  He defended both answers saying it was important to stand 
up to America.  Prijepolje will be the first test to see if the 
Progressives have any actual interest in good governance.   End 
Comment. 
 
MUNTER