Belgrade: The government will be formed in Serbia by July, stated a senior Democratic Party (DS) official yesterday.

Dragoljub Micunovic said that the DS-led coalition of five parties, including “For a European Serbia” will form this new cabinet, along with the SPS-PUPS-JS pre-election coalition, and “all [ethnic] minority parties”.

Micunovic also mentioned 142 votes in parliament that would elect such a government, supported also by the Liberal-Democrats (LDP).

Micunovic stated, “It is realistic that soon, perhaps even next week, official negotiations with the Socialists will start, but I would not be surprised if they took a while. I expect we will have a government ahead of the summer vacations, more specifically, at the start of July. Election of parliament speaker will be crucial, because it will mean that someone has the parliamentary majority and that we are close to forming a government. It is up to Socialists to decide whether they will join a government with parties of a similar socialist, center-left orientation, or with conservative ones far removed from their manifesto.”