New speaker: No reason to apologize to opposition party

New speaker: No reason to apologize to opposition party

BELGRADE -- New Parliament Speaker Maja Gojković says that she would "treat all MPs equally," and that she felt no need to apologize to the Democratic Party (DS).

The apology was sought from this official of the ruling SNS party by the opposition DS because of the statements she made during the election campaign.

Gojković told B92 TV on Thursday that there were "different interpretations of the statement about eradicating the weed and seeds of evil" - but that what she considered most important was "what was obtained in elections."

"That was their only political trump card. Their rhetoric was evaluated in elections and I don't know how it's possible they didn't realize they should change it. No need for me to apologize, I know exactly what I said," she remarked.

Gojković then added that "intellectuals are not understood entirely well by people who do not think and express themselves in the same way," and that she would apologize if DS leader Dragan Đilas consented to also apologize "for everything he did to Belgrade and its citizens."

She then explained that the "eradication" she had in mind was that of corruption and crime, and "not physical eradication," and added she did not think the Democrats "really felt unease about working with her in parliament."

Asked about her overall political career and whether she "found herself in the politician sense in the SNS" - considering that she was previously a member of the SRS, led her own party, cooperated with with DSS, and then joined the URS, Gojković replied:

"I'm also interested to hear what other politicians say when asked this question. What's important to me is that...