Serbia Progressives To Axe Dud Ministers

Serbia's ruling Progressive Party said its main board will meet after March 20, following a visit of Serbian officials to Brussels, to rate the performance of ministers, public company directors and other officials selected on the proposal of the party.

Zoran Babic, the party's deputy whip, said on Wednesday that the Progressives would be putting the principle of accountability into action.

"Anyone who has gotten tired and is not working at full capacity should be and will be replaced," he said.

He did not reveal names. But the media in Serbia have reported that Aleksandar Vucic, the leader of the Progressives, is far from satisfied with Culture Minister Bratislav Petkovic, Mining Minister Milan Bacevic or Foreign Minister Ivan Mrkic.

He is also reportedly not content with Agriculture Minister Goran Knezevic's handling of a recent milk scandal.

The minister issued contradictory statements on allegedly contaminated milk over the past few weeks, which disturbed consumers and fed a health scare.

The Progressive Party holds nine ministries in government, the Socialists five plus the Prime Minister’s seat, the United Regions of Serbia three, while the Social Democratic Party of Serbia holds one, as does the Party of Democratic Action of Sandzak. The government was formed in July 2012.

The Progressives have called on their coalition partners to make the same move.

Zarko Obradovic, deputy leader of the Socialist Party, said the party was ready to evaluate the work of its ministers if all the coalition partners agreed that a reshuffle was necessary. He did not want to speculate on who could be dismissed.

The United Regions of Serbia said that they had already analyzed the work of their ministers and were satisfied with the results.

“Everybody needs to do their best. In that sense, a government reshuffle is better than early elections,” Marko Selakovic, the party's spokesperson, said.