Tadic: Building strong opposition challenge in reforms

BELGRADE - Building a strong opposition is one of the main challenges in reforming Serbia because the major asymmetry between the government and the opposition constitutes a threat to political stability, leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDS) Boris Tadic stated in Brussels on Friday.

In the speech delivered at the opening of the conference on building trust in bigger Europe, Tadic pointed to the importance of free media and strong opposition for the development of any society, SDS released.

The asymmetry between the government and the opposition cannot be reduced in the conditions of suppression of opposition, democratic values and media freedoms, he said.

Development of a democratic society calls for development of a constructive democratic opposition and the culture of dialogue, Tadic warned and added that in case ruling parties do not create the room for a constructive opposition to be built, they will face different modes of extreme opposition which will threaten to annul already implemented and launched reforms.

Tadic also reflected on the importance of European integration as the momentum for reforms in post-Communist countries, noting that Serbia's delay on its EU path is causing a slowdown in the reform process.

The former Serbian president headed the session on sustainability of the transition from authoritarian to democratic governments and the transition from war to peace.

Tadic communicated the experiences from the time of his presidential mandate and explained the importance of achieving a consensus among all relevant political factors in Serbia concerning EU membership as the main strategic and national goal.

He also pointed to the importance of institutional memory and use of...