Were the party in favour, it could share in the credit for academies and focus its ire on other aspects of his work—such as his proposed overhaul of the school curriculum, which some find too prescriptive, or his criticism of examination standards.

ECONOMIST: Labour’s education divide

Yet as kingmaker Mr Dacic dropped his alliance with the Democratic Party of Boris Tadic in favour of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) led by Tomislav Nikolic, who defeated Mr Tadic in the presidential election.

ECONOMIST: Serbia’s government

But the resistance is politically passive and a cross-party consensus in favour is holding.

ECONOMIST: Germany and Afghanistan