At the sitting held on 2 March, the Local Self-Government Committee considered the Information on the Activities of the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government in the period October-December 2010.

The sitting was chaired by Jovan Palalic, Committee Chairman.

Elaborating the information, the part relating to the functioning of local self-government, Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government Milan Markovic said that the functioning of local self-government units is stable which is evidenced by the fact that only one municipality was disbanded last year. He pointed out that there have been some changes in councilors’ majority in local self-governments, but without any consequences to the citizens or the system and that the only problems arose from the Constitutional Court’s decision on the unconstitutionality of blank resignations on the local level. So now the councilors are accountable neither to the citizens nor the parties which resulted in poorer quality and enabled the trade in terms of office, stressed Minister Markovic.

He announced that because of it the Ministry will bring up the issue of election of councilors because now the local level has a depersonalised system, the lists are locked, and blank resignations abolished which he believes to be a very bad option.

Minister Markovic opined that criteria should be set for the election of councilors and deputies so as to encourage competition within parties and staff replenishment and deemed that a personalised proportional system would be the best solution for Serbia. Regarding the Information on the Ministry’s activities in the past three months, the Committee members asked many questions relating to the restoration of terms of office to councilmen whose blank resignations had been activated. They also asked when a law on labour relations in local self-governments would be proposed and how the issue of fund transfers to local units would be resolved.