4 March – 4 December 2004

Assembly Activities

Acts and other items of legislation adopted

• The National Assembly adopted the Resolution on Kosovo and Metohia by a two-thirds majority on 26 March, followed by the Plan for a Political Solution to the Situation in Kosovo and Metohia, drafted by the Government of the Republic of Serbia, and adopted on 29 April;
• The Decision on Initiating Procedure for the Adoption of the New Constitution of Serbia was passed on 30 March;
• The Act Modifying the Act on the Election of the President of the Republic of Serbia was passed on 25 February;
• The Recommendation on the Use of the Coat-of-arms, Flag and Anthem of the Republic of Serbia was passed unanimously on 17 August.
• The Resolution on Joining the European Union was passed unanimously on 13 October.

In 2004, since the inaugural session of the new National Assembly convocation, a total of 66 Acts and 85 other items of legislation were adopted (see attached table).

In addition to the regular activities of standing National Assembly committees, two boards of inquiry were also formed. Representatives of all parties take part in sessions of committees and boards of inquiry. In total, 384 committee and 12 sub-committee sessions were held. The sessions discussed 2,173 amendments.

In 2004, the National Assembly adopted 66 Acts and 85 other items of legislation. The Assembly held 29 sessions, lasting a total of 99 days. Of a total of 624,164,147 dinars allocated to the Assembly, only 450,922,152 dinars were expended.

Number 2001 2002 2003 2004
Acts 48 47 47 66
Other items 81 17 37 85
Sessions 15 11 25 29
Working days 95 78 79 99

Marking important anniversaries

• Celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the Ostruznica National Assembly;
• Promotion of the monograph Two hundred years of the Serbian Assembly;
• Celebration of the 50th anniversary of the National Assembly’s present building;
• Presentation of the Deputies’ Handbook;
• Ceremonial raising of the State Flag on the Assembly’s flagpole, and uncovering of a plaque bearing the national coat of arms;
• Exhibition of paintings from the National Assembly collection as part of European Heritage Days organised by the City of Belgrade on 12 and 13 September.

Elections

• Respect for legal deadlines in the preparation and calling of presidential elections, along with the political neutrality of the Assembly Chairman; the election of the president and national minority representatives made possible with the abolishing of the minimum voter turnout rule;
• Respect for legal deadlines in the calling of local elections; Assembly Chairman’s public warning on the inadequacies of the Local Self-government Act and refusal to modify the Act on the eve of the elections.
• Newly elected chairpersons and members of municipal assemblies were advised on their duties and obligations immediately after the closing of polling stations, and before the results were made public.

Protection of minority and property rights and contribution to the creation of a democratic environment

• National minorities – co-operation with national councils and work on solving problems involving their financing; mediation in establishing direct communication with appropriate ministries. The Chairman of the National Assembly directed an official request to the Minister of the Interior, the Republic Public Prosecutor, heads of districts, local police officials and municipal assembly chairpersons in Vojvodina from areas where incidents were reported from March to June, asking them to report the exact circumstances, measures taken and strategies for preventing possible further incidents. In co-operation with the appropriate ministries and the National Assembly’s Committee on Inter-ethnic Relations, the Chairman submitted a public report. A clear expression of support for the equality of national minorities was the Chairman’s visit to the “Duzijanca” celebration in Subotica, the first time a high official of the Republic of Serbia took part in that event;
• On occasion of 25 November, International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the Chairman of the National Assembly advised chairpersons of municipal assemblies to set up special municipal bodies charged with ensuring gender equality.
• Property rights – as Acting President of the Republic of Serbia, the Assembly Chairman issued a recommendation to chairpersons of municipal and city assemblies with the aim of using provisions of existing legislation to enable previous owners of nationalised real estate to use it. Actions of appropriate bodies taken on the basis of the recommendation resulted in the solving of 150 cases. This is the first time that a high state official has signed a document proclaiming the restitution of private property a matter beyond dispute.
• The Assembly Chairman (and Acting President of Serbia) visited the Gracanica monastery in April, at the invitation of Serbian Orthodox Bishop Artemije. This was the first visit of a Serbian head of state to Kosovo since 1999;
• Attendance at and support for important cultural events: the Palic International Film Festival, the Nis Film Festival, the Ljubicevo Horsemanship Festival, the celebration of the 120th anniversary of the National Bank of Serbia, the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Cer, the liturgy for the completion of the construction of St. Sava’s Temple, Sterija’s Theatrical Festival, the Cartoon Exhibition, Subotica Day, the Corfu memorial service, the Belgrade International Theatre Festival, the memorial service for schoolchildren murdered in World War Two in Sumarice, and many other events.
• Support to a number of important conferences and roundtables
The Assembly Chairman took part at many conferences and roundtables: the conference on adopting the National Anti-Smoking Strategy, the roundtables on Ethics in local self-government, Corruption in the judiciary, The Diaspora and the Fatherland, Fundamental values in politics and society, Two hundred years of Serbia’s nationhood, Restoring a civil society, and many others.
For the first time, the Assembly Chairman, along with the President of the Republic, opened the Annual Serbian Conference of Judges.
• Acquaintance with international standards and obligations
The Chairman of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia made it possible for European Union Mission reports to be presented to deputies, and opened a number of seminars at the Assembly, where draft Acts under preparation by the Government or professional and non-governmental organisations were presented to deputies.
To inform local authorities of changes in municipal financing and innovations brought about with the introduction of VAT, the Chairman of the National Assembly organised a meeting of representatives of all municipalities with the Minister of Finance on 24 November, where the draft Act on the Allocation of Transfer Resources from the Budget of the Republic of Serbia was presented before entering Assembly procedure.

Parliamentary co-operation

• Co-operation was established with parliaments of Hungary, Italy and Russia. A number of initiatives were created, focusing on regional parliamentary co-operation. A result of extensive co-operation with the Hungarian parliament was agreement on setting up an inter-parliamentary Roundtable for the implementation of the Toleration Programme, as well as that the next meeting of heads of parliaments should be held in Subotica and Szeged, halfway between Belgrade and Budapest.
The Assembly Chairman visited the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska, addressed its deputies and signed a joint statement on co-operation and the necessity of fulfilling international obligations.
The Chairman took part in the Cetinje Parliamentary Forum.
Members of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the European Integrations Committee are currently visiting the French National Assembly.
• Intensive co-operation with international organisations resulted in significant support to assembly activities by OSCE, USAID, Canada’s Parliamentary Centre, and many other agencies.
• Over 60 meetings were held with ambassadors, heads of state and government, and parliamentary speakers and representatives.

Most important ceremonies held at the National Assembly

• The president-elect of Serbia took the oath of office.
• At the suggestion of the Chairman of the National Assembly, the President of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro decorated Christian Thimonier, counsellor at the Embassy of France. The decoration was conferred at the National Assembly on 23 July.
• Judges and public prosecutors took the oath of office.
• Presentation of prizes for best essay – the Assembly Chairman was a member of the jury that selected the best essays and awarded prizes for essays on the topic “If I were Prime Minister, I would…”, as part of a competition organised by OSCE for Serbia’s secondary school students.
• Co-operation with the National Library of Serbia – the head of the Library, Sreten Ugricic, presented all deputies of the Serbian Assembly with free membership cards. At the same time, the National Library presented a 16-volume bibliography to the Assembly Library.

Communication of members of the public

• The Open Door Day was inaugurated on 31 May, with the visit of a delegation of the best pupils of three Belgrade secondary schools. The first members of the public were received on 3 July. Six open days have been held so far, with the Assembly Chairman and deputies playing hosts to over 800 members of the public.
• School visits to the National Assembly were organised in co-operation with OSCE, with the aim of improving political awareness of young people and political transparency of institutions. Four visits have been realised so far, and 160 students and 15 teachers from Arandjelovac, Dimitrovgrad, Tutin and Bujanovac toured the Assembly.
• The Student Work Placement programme, started at the initiative of OSCE, continued in academic year 2004-05.
• The Chairman of the National Assembly had meetings with delegations of numerous schools from Serbia, as well as with students receiving Konrad Adenauer Foundation and National Democratic Institute scholarships, young leaders from the Youth Education for Business and Entrepreneurship programme, and many others. A group of American students attending the Peace Studies Programme in Washington visited the Assembly, as did a number of interested international delegations.
• The Office of the Chairman replies to all politely worded letters from members of the public. A total of 507 cases were solved, either immediately or by re-directing them to the appropriate bodies (a table of submissions processed is attached). The Chairman met more than one hundred members of the public and representatives of various organisations and associations in order to help solve their problems.
• Support for the media – A working breakfast was held, in co-operation with OSCE, for editors, with the aim of improving co-operation and quality of work of assembly correspondents. A programme is currently under way, also in co-operation with OSCE, to create a special newsroom where journalists covering Assembly activities would have access to four computers, telephones, a fax machine and a television. An initiative was started to open a press gallery in the Assembly’s main chamber, so that a tradition of true Assembly reporting could be inaugurated.
• As part of the campaign of acquainting local assemblies and members of the public with the activities of the National Assembly, visits were organised to Novi Sad, Backi Petrovac, Subotica, Kikinda, Nis, Kraljevo, Krusevac, Barajevo, Jagodina, Paracin, Cuprija, Sombor, Becej, Zrenjanin, Pancevo, Obrenovac, Lajkovac, Valjevo, Pozarevac, and many other towns.
• In co-operation with OSCE, a fifteen-minute film, The National Assembly – A house of all the people, was prepared, and will premiere on Belgrade’s TV B92 on Monday 6 December. OSCE is to make videotapes of the film available to all secondary schools in Serbia, as well as to television stations interested in showing it.