Djilas will not participate in election dialogue unless it is open to the public

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The leader of the opposition Party of Freedom and Justice (SAA) Dragan Djilas informed Milan Antonijevic and the Open Society Foundation, organizers of the roundtable on election conditions, that he, personally, and the SAA, would not participate in future meetings unless they are open to the public.

Djilas recalled that he accepted the rule proposed by the organizer – that no one talks about meeting discussions publically.

He added, however, that what he could not accept was the fact that Antonijevic was not truthfully informing the public that participants of the talks were constructive, that he tended to say that the boycott of the elections had not been mentioned during the talks and that the agreement is around the corner.

Djilas recalled that he accepted the rule proposed by the organizer – who did not say what he said at the roundtable held at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade was not made public.

He added, however, that what he could not accept was that Antonijevic was not truthfully informing the public that the participants in the talks were constructive, that he tended to say that the boycott of the elections had not been mentioned during the talks and that the agreement had just not been reached.

To prevent the public from being presented with a false image of what is going on behind closed doors, Djilas suggested that the meeting be opened to media representatives and that each citizen be personally able to see and hear who is happening and what their views are.

Responding to Dragan Djilas’s letter, Antonijevic stated that it is possible to open the introductory part of future meetings of the authorities and the opposition in Serbia, and that after the meeting participants would give statements to the media, but that they would consult with other meeting organizers on this.