National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia / Activities / Activity details
Friday, 10 July 2015
Fourth Special Hearing of the Action Group for Political System Reform
Today, at the fourth special hearing of the Action Group for Political System Reform, representatives of the Party of United Pensioners of Serbia, Democratic Party and the Socialist Party of Serbia parliamentary groups shared their proposals for the reform of the political system.
Speaking on the behalf of the Party of United Pensioners of Serbia Parliamentary Group, MP Momo Colakovic said that his parliamentary group is open to discussion on the amendment of the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, if dialogue leads to a solution requiring its amendment.
For the Party of United Pensioners of Serbia Parliamentary Group the reform of the political system should result in the change of several mutually conditioned and interrelated legal acts. Colakovic commended the initiative to reform the political system since, there has been no change since the late 1980s, early 1990s. For the Party of United Pensioners of Serbia Parliamentary Group one of the first issues that should be addressed is improving the status of the elderly as one of the most vulnerable social categories and protecting the pension as a constitutional, not social category, followed by amendments and implementation of laws guaranteeing free education and the right to free healthcare. The most important changes should be to the Law on the Election of MPs viz. the nomination process and allocation of mandates. The existing model should be replaced with one which would enable a connection between the voters and their elected representatives, and the threshold should be lowered from 5 to 3%. As regards amending the Law on Political Parties, the existing one has failed to meet its purpose, evidenced in the fact that we have 102 registered political parties, 50% of which are registered as national minority parties even though they have no minority representatives, stressed Colakovic. The Party of United Pensioners of Serbia Parliamentary Group urges to raise the number of signatures necessary to register a political party to 20,000. Regarding the changes to the legislation concerning local self-governments, the Party of United Pensioners of Serbia Parliamentary Group urges to strengthen the status of local communities, and concerning civic association, they say that national initiative and referendum should be put into bigger focus. About the Constitution, the Party of United Pensioners of Serbia Parliamentary Group is for a broad consensus on the number of sections that should be changed so as to come up with long-term solutions.
“As a party of experienced, wise and responsible people, PUPS insists on building a socially responsible state, state of social equality and justice, state of economic, social and legal responsibility and a state of long-term security and stability”, concluded Colakovic.
For the Democratic Party Parliamentary Group the reform of the political system moves in two directions – toward a control of the government and the inclusion of the citizens into the political processes.
MP Aleksandra Jerkov, who along with MP Dragoljub Micunovic presented the proposals of the Democratic Party Parliamentary Group, stressed that there can be no serious political system reform without changing the Constitution. She opined that the existing Constitution is the result of a compromise no one was happy with and that it is at odds with the reality we live in today. Also, there are no proposals for a systemic change of the Constitution, just fragments and parts which can only serve petty political purposes, said Jerkov. On the behalf of the Democratic Party Parliamentary Group she shared several proposals for Constitutional changes: changing the definition of the Republic of Serbia, changing the parts of the Constitution concerning human and minority rights and changing the part concerning the autonomy of the judiciary. The Democratic Party Parliamentary Group also believes it necessary to change the election system viz. to change how the MPs and councillors are elected and introduce a personalised, proportional election system. The idea is that the number of electoral units in Serbia should correspond to the number of MPs/councillors in its assemblies, that each party nominates one candidate per electoral unit, sum up all the votes of all the candidates and allocate mandates to the best ranked candidates. The system is to remain proportional, but in this case the voters know who they are voting for. Of course, in the process, it is important to pay attention to the representation of women and national minorities, added Jerkov. The Democratic Party Parliamentary Group believes that the presidents of municipalities and mayors should be elected directly, with the introduction of a mechanism to prevent the blockade of work of local assemblies. Jerkov also touched on the election and authority of the President of the Republic saying that either the existing election system should be kept and the authority amended, or keep the authority but change the election system. The Democratic Party Parliamentary Group also urges to change the territorial organisation of the country because the Serbian citizens’ right to autonomy should not depend on where they live, they urge for rationalisation with clear authority and duties. There should be clear criteria for the establishment of autonomies, include into the Constitutions a part concerning relations with the European Union, insist on the implementation of the existing laws which should not hinge on “political will” and insist on strengthening regulatory bodies, concluded Jerkov.
For the Socialist Party of Serbia Parliamentary Group, whose proposals were presented by Dijana Vukomanovic, the basic tenets of the organisation of power in Serbia are democracy, separation of power into legislative, executive and judiciary, rule of law and social justice, republicanism, secular concept viz. separation of church and state, state-building by the Serbian people on the tenets of civil democracy, respect of international standards of human and minority rights and freedoms, as well as the maintenance of the traditional national and modern European principles and values.
Vukomanovic chiefly focused on the separation of power into legislative, executive and judiciary, emphasising the need to strengthen the legislative branch of power, especially its control role. The quality of the MPs’ work should be improved by strengthening the control role of the National Assembly through the use of the existing mechanisms. The Socialist Party of Serbia Parliamentary Group urges to reduce the number of MPs, but to previously set the appropriate criteria which would take into consideration the degree of representativeness of each MP seat in relation to the population count. Vukomanovic stressed that her parliamentary group proposes the application of the so-called cube root criterion - criterion which yields the optimal number of MPs by calculating the cube root of the population, which in this case is 190 MPs. The Socialist Party of Serbia Parliamentary Group believes this criterion should be applied to all the other levels of government in Serbia. They are also in favour of maintaining the so-called “female quota” principle when nominating the less represented gender on the electoral lists (ballots).
The Socialist Party of Serbia Parliamentary Group calls for stepping up the regulations which should prevent parties which had not crossed the threshold to enter the parliament and boost the level of civic participation in the political system by facilitating civic legislative initiatives and lowering the number of signatures necessary for launching a civic initiative to 15,000, and 100,000 signatures to change of the Constitution. The Socialist Party of Serbia Parliamentary Group is also in favour of depersonalisation of the political system, while speaking of presidential elections, Vukomanovic said that whether the existing election system should be changed needs to be thoroughly thought out, and if it is decided that the President of the Republic be elected by the National Assembly, the Socialist Party of Serbia Parliamentary Group will insist that his/her authority be reduced to the level of protocol. The Socialist Party of Serbia Parliamentary Group is in favour of strengthening the judiciary considering that it is the focus of interest of both national and European political elements and institutions, saying that the strengthening should follow the recommendations given in the European Commission guidelines. Vukomanovic restated that the Socialist Party of Serbia Parliamentary Group is in favour of modifying the existing election system into a personalised proportional election system. Speaking of AP Vojvodina, the Socialist Party of Serbia Parliamentary Group believes some of its authority, especially that concerning agriculture, water management and energy production, could be expanded, but the idea of transferring state functions to the provincial level is not acceptable for the Socialist Party of Serbia Parliamentary Group, the rights of the national minorities should be improved and the funding of AP Vojvodina should be regulated by a separate law.
“The Socialist Party of Serbia Parliamentary Group believes that there is no need for structural change of the position of AP Vojvodina is the constitutional and legal system of the Republic of Serbia, only the existing solutions need to be made more specific and all the options giving the existing autonomy of Vojvodina the character of functionality should be put in use, in accordance with the people’s interest”, concluded Vukomanovic.
The Chairman of the Action Group, Zoran Babic said that the next special hearing, where the representatives of the Serbian Progressive Party Parliamentary Group will share their proposals for the reform of the political system, will be held between 20 and 25 July 2015.
The fourth special hearing was attended by representatives of USAID, OSCE Mission in Serbia and the Centre for Research in Politics “Argument” from Prijepolje.
The fourth special hearing was chaired by the Chairman of the Action Group for Political System Reform, Zoran Babic.
For the Party of United Pensioners of Serbia Parliamentary Group the reform of the political system should result in the change of several mutually conditioned and interrelated legal acts. Colakovic commended the initiative to reform the political system since, there has been no change since the late 1980s, early 1990s. For the Party of United Pensioners of Serbia Parliamentary Group one of the first issues that should be addressed is improving the status of the elderly as one of the most vulnerable social categories and protecting the pension as a constitutional, not social category, followed by amendments and implementation of laws guaranteeing free education and the right to free healthcare. The most important changes should be to the Law on the Election of MPs viz. the nomination process and allocation of mandates. The existing model should be replaced with one which would enable a connection between the voters and their elected representatives, and the threshold should be lowered from 5 to 3%. As regards amending the Law on Political Parties, the existing one has failed to meet its purpose, evidenced in the fact that we have 102 registered political parties, 50% of which are registered as national minority parties even though they have no minority representatives, stressed Colakovic. The Party of United Pensioners of Serbia Parliamentary Group urges to raise the number of signatures necessary to register a political party to 20,000. Regarding the changes to the legislation concerning local self-governments, the Party of United Pensioners of Serbia Parliamentary Group urges to strengthen the status of local communities, and concerning civic association, they say that national initiative and referendum should be put into bigger focus. About the Constitution, the Party of United Pensioners of Serbia Parliamentary Group is for a broad consensus on the number of sections that should be changed so as to come up with long-term solutions.
“As a party of experienced, wise and responsible people, PUPS insists on building a socially responsible state, state of social equality and justice, state of economic, social and legal responsibility and a state of long-term security and stability”, concluded Colakovic.
For the Democratic Party Parliamentary Group the reform of the political system moves in two directions – toward a control of the government and the inclusion of the citizens into the political processes.
MP Aleksandra Jerkov, who along with MP Dragoljub Micunovic presented the proposals of the Democratic Party Parliamentary Group, stressed that there can be no serious political system reform without changing the Constitution. She opined that the existing Constitution is the result of a compromise no one was happy with and that it is at odds with the reality we live in today. Also, there are no proposals for a systemic change of the Constitution, just fragments and parts which can only serve petty political purposes, said Jerkov. On the behalf of the Democratic Party Parliamentary Group she shared several proposals for Constitutional changes: changing the definition of the Republic of Serbia, changing the parts of the Constitution concerning human and minority rights and changing the part concerning the autonomy of the judiciary. The Democratic Party Parliamentary Group also believes it necessary to change the election system viz. to change how the MPs and councillors are elected and introduce a personalised, proportional election system. The idea is that the number of electoral units in Serbia should correspond to the number of MPs/councillors in its assemblies, that each party nominates one candidate per electoral unit, sum up all the votes of all the candidates and allocate mandates to the best ranked candidates. The system is to remain proportional, but in this case the voters know who they are voting for. Of course, in the process, it is important to pay attention to the representation of women and national minorities, added Jerkov. The Democratic Party Parliamentary Group believes that the presidents of municipalities and mayors should be elected directly, with the introduction of a mechanism to prevent the blockade of work of local assemblies. Jerkov also touched on the election and authority of the President of the Republic saying that either the existing election system should be kept and the authority amended, or keep the authority but change the election system. The Democratic Party Parliamentary Group also urges to change the territorial organisation of the country because the Serbian citizens’ right to autonomy should not depend on where they live, they urge for rationalisation with clear authority and duties. There should be clear criteria for the establishment of autonomies, include into the Constitutions a part concerning relations with the European Union, insist on the implementation of the existing laws which should not hinge on “political will” and insist on strengthening regulatory bodies, concluded Jerkov.
For the Socialist Party of Serbia Parliamentary Group, whose proposals were presented by Dijana Vukomanovic, the basic tenets of the organisation of power in Serbia are democracy, separation of power into legislative, executive and judiciary, rule of law and social justice, republicanism, secular concept viz. separation of church and state, state-building by the Serbian people on the tenets of civil democracy, respect of international standards of human and minority rights and freedoms, as well as the maintenance of the traditional national and modern European principles and values.
Vukomanovic chiefly focused on the separation of power into legislative, executive and judiciary, emphasising the need to strengthen the legislative branch of power, especially its control role. The quality of the MPs’ work should be improved by strengthening the control role of the National Assembly through the use of the existing mechanisms. The Socialist Party of Serbia Parliamentary Group urges to reduce the number of MPs, but to previously set the appropriate criteria which would take into consideration the degree of representativeness of each MP seat in relation to the population count. Vukomanovic stressed that her parliamentary group proposes the application of the so-called cube root criterion - criterion which yields the optimal number of MPs by calculating the cube root of the population, which in this case is 190 MPs. The Socialist Party of Serbia Parliamentary Group believes this criterion should be applied to all the other levels of government in Serbia. They are also in favour of maintaining the so-called “female quota” principle when nominating the less represented gender on the electoral lists (ballots).
The Socialist Party of Serbia Parliamentary Group calls for stepping up the regulations which should prevent parties which had not crossed the threshold to enter the parliament and boost the level of civic participation in the political system by facilitating civic legislative initiatives and lowering the number of signatures necessary for launching a civic initiative to 15,000, and 100,000 signatures to change of the Constitution. The Socialist Party of Serbia Parliamentary Group is also in favour of depersonalisation of the political system, while speaking of presidential elections, Vukomanovic said that whether the existing election system should be changed needs to be thoroughly thought out, and if it is decided that the President of the Republic be elected by the National Assembly, the Socialist Party of Serbia Parliamentary Group will insist that his/her authority be reduced to the level of protocol. The Socialist Party of Serbia Parliamentary Group is in favour of strengthening the judiciary considering that it is the focus of interest of both national and European political elements and institutions, saying that the strengthening should follow the recommendations given in the European Commission guidelines. Vukomanovic restated that the Socialist Party of Serbia Parliamentary Group is in favour of modifying the existing election system into a personalised proportional election system. Speaking of AP Vojvodina, the Socialist Party of Serbia Parliamentary Group believes some of its authority, especially that concerning agriculture, water management and energy production, could be expanded, but the idea of transferring state functions to the provincial level is not acceptable for the Socialist Party of Serbia Parliamentary Group, the rights of the national minorities should be improved and the funding of AP Vojvodina should be regulated by a separate law.
“The Socialist Party of Serbia Parliamentary Group believes that there is no need for structural change of the position of AP Vojvodina is the constitutional and legal system of the Republic of Serbia, only the existing solutions need to be made more specific and all the options giving the existing autonomy of Vojvodina the character of functionality should be put in use, in accordance with the people’s interest”, concluded Vukomanovic.
The Chairman of the Action Group, Zoran Babic said that the next special hearing, where the representatives of the Serbian Progressive Party Parliamentary Group will share their proposals for the reform of the political system, will be held between 20 and 25 July 2015.
The fourth special hearing was attended by representatives of USAID, OSCE Mission in Serbia and the Centre for Research in Politics “Argument” from Prijepolje.
The fourth special hearing was chaired by the Chairman of the Action Group for Political System Reform, Zoran Babic.