Federal cabinet's reshuffle takes place

Yugoslav Prime Minister Momir Bulatovic made changes in the federal government on Aug. 12.

Bulatovic appointed two new deputy prime ministers and 11 ministers. New members of the cabinet are the representatives of the Serbian Radical Party (5), the Yugoslav Left (3), the Socialist Party of Serbia (3), the New Democracy party (1) and the Serb People's Party of Montenegro (1).

The following government officials have been replaced: Deputy Prime Minister Zoran Lilic, Minister of Justice Zoran Knezevic, Minister of Agriculture Rade Filipovic, Minister of Telecommunications Dojcilo Radojevic, Minister of Development, Science and Environment Jagos Zelenovic, Minister of Cooperation with international financial, trade and other organizations Nenad Djokic, and ministers without portfolio Goran Matic and Jugoslav Kostic.

Maja Gojkovic and Tomislav Nikolic are newly appointed deputy prime ministers, whereas Petar Jojic is the newly appointed Minister of Justice, Milan Beko is Minister of Economy, Nada Sljapic is Minister of Development, Science and Environment, and Milan Eric is the newly appointed Minister of Domestic Trade.

New appointments include: the Minister of Telecommunications, Ivan Markovic, Minister for Cooperation with international financial organizations Borka Vucic, Minister of International Scientific and Cultural Cooperation Cedomir Mirkovic, Minister of Information Goran Matic, and new ministers without portfolio Zelidrag Nikcevic, Zoran Vujovic and Nebojsa Velickovic.

Bulatovic said the new "Yugoslav government will ask the Federal Parliament to discuss, at the next session, the draft laws which secure more liberal economic conditions, a reduction of customs duties with the aim of stimulating the reconstruction of the country and increasing production, lower taxes to stop the grey economy channels, as well as a number of other measures which will, in the federal government's opinion, largely contribute to economic reforms in the country."

Bulatovic said he was "satisfied with the high degree of political unity and grateful to the political parties which, regardless of the differences in their programs and pressures and blackmail coming from the world's power centers, wish to contribute to our country's reconstruction and its economic and democratic development, for which internal political unity is one of the major prerequisites."

THE SERBIAN RENEWAL MOVEMENT - after the reshuffling of the federal government, accused the Yugoslav Prime Minister, Momir Bulatovic, of "deciding to defend his position and his party, even at the price of the great suffering of Serbia and breaking the state union of Serbia and Montenegro."

"Momir Bulatovic should have resigned for state and national reasons, and should also have decisively advocated that the ruling Montenegrin party gets the office of Yugoslav Prime Minister," it was said in the party's statement.

THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY - estimated that the reshuffling of the federal government was a message to the world to "forget about any cooperation with Yugoslavia."

In a statement regarding the federal government's reconstruction, the party said that the message to the citizens of Yugoslavia was that "a long harsh winter awaits them, without heating and electricity, as well as further impoverishment."

THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF SERBIA - accused the authorities of posting another obstacle on the road out of the crisis by reconstructing the federal government in this way.

The party said that the reshuffling of the federal government, "done only by replacing seven ministers and a deputy prime minister, merely represented an in-party reshuffle in the interests of power brokers, while the center of decision-making remained where it was."

Source: Beta Press

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