At the request 168 deputies, the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic, convened the Third Extraordinary Session of the National Assembly in 2009, for Thursday, 22 January, however, the session was postponed for Monday, 26 January, starting at 10 a.m.

The Request to hold the extraordinary session set the following agenda:

1. The Proposal of the Decision on determining the composition of standing delegations of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia to international parliamentary institutions, submitted by the National Assembly Speaker, Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic,

2. The Proposal of the Decision on the dismissal and appointment of members and deputy members of the Republic Electoral Commission, submitted by deputy Nada Kolundzija and

3. The Proposal of the Decision amending the Decision on the election of members of committees of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, submitted by G17 PLUS Deputy Group.

In the morning part of the session, the National Assembly conducted a unified discussion on the Proposal of the Decision on determining the composition of standing delegations of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia to international parliamentary institutions. In a several hours long debate, the deputies discussed the reasons for the untimely passing of the decision on the composition of the nine standing delegations which represent Serbia in international organisations and institutions. The opposition deputies, above all SRP and DPS deputies, hold the governing majority responsible for

the fact that the National Assembly does not have a delegation at the regular winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which has already begun in Strasbourg. They believe that this greatly damages Serbia because no National Assembly delegation will participate in the session that will, among other things, deal with the Report on the situation in Kosovo. They also brought up the requirement that standing delegations must be elected within six months from the moment a new parliamentary convocation is constituted, as well as the option that the erstwhile standing delegation members can take part in the session.

Dismissing the opposition’s criticism, the governing majority deputies pointed out that it was impossible to reach a political agreement regarding the composition of the delegations, above all because SRP deputies balk at the proposal that Forward Serbia Deputy Club representatives be delegation members.

During the sitting, the deputies pointed out violations of the Rules of Procedure and conducted discussions outside the agenda.

On the second day of work, 27 January, the National Assembly continued the unified discussion on the Proposal of the Decision on determining the composition of standing delegations of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia to international parliamentary institutions.

During the sitting, the deputies pointed out violations of the Rules of Procedure and conducted discussions outside the agenda.

On the third day of work, 28 January, the deputies continued the discussion on the first item on the agenda for the Third Extraordinary Session of the National Assembly in 2009.

During the sitting, in addition to the discussion on the agenda, the deputies also discussed other topics, not on the agenda, and pointed out violations of the Rules of Procedure.

By the end of the day, National Assembly had completed the unified discussion on the Proposal of the Decision on determining the composition of standing delegations of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia to international parliamentary institutions.

On the fourth day of work, 29 January, the National Assembly conducted a unified discussion on the Proposal of the Decision on the dismissal and appointment of members and deputy members of the Republic Electoral Commission, submitted by deputy Nada Kolundzija.

Serbian Radical Party deputies requested that the Proposal be withdrawn, that is that new members of the Republic Electoral Commission not be appointed, stating that parties that did not take part in the election cannot have representatives in the Commission.

The discussion was marked by a debate between the Serbian Radical Party deputies and Serbian Progressive Party president, and during the discussion the deputies pointed out violations of the Rules of Procedure, used their right to reply and requested explanations and answers to questions asked.

The National Assembly went on to complete a unified discussion on the Proposal of the Decision amending the Decision on the election of members of committees of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, submitted by G17 Plus Deputy Group.

Having completed the unified discussion on all three items on the agenda for the Third Extraordinary Session of the National Assembly in 2009, the National Assembly Deputy Speaker, Gordana Comic, who was chairing the sitting, set Monday, 2 February 2009, as Voting Day, starting at 11 a.m.

Voting Day

On Voting Day, the National Assembly adopted the Proposal of the Decision on determining the composition of standing delegations of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia to international parliamentary institutions, submitted by the National Assembly Speaker, Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic, by a majority of votes (151).

181 deputies voted in favour of passing the Proposal of the Decision on the dismissal and appointment of members and deputy members of the Republic Electoral Commission, submitted by deputy Nada Kolundzija, while 145 deputies voted in favour of the Proposal of the Decision amending the Decision on the election of members of committees of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, submitted by G17 PLUS Deputy Group.

On Voting Day, the National Assembly also deliberated on the violations of the rules of Procedure pointed out by the deputies during the session and ruled that the articles of the Rules of Procedure had not been violated in any of the instances.

Since the National Assembly had completed the discussion on all the items on the agenda and ruled on them, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic, concluded the Third Extraordinary Session of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia in 2009.