Parliament in "Schengen session" Tuesday

Speaker Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic has scheduled the first session of the second regular sitting of parliament for Tuesday. MPs will have 27 items on the agenda as they meet in Belgrade tomorrow. Parliament in "Schengen session" Tuesday Among them is the adoption of the laws that are one of the conditions for Serbia to be placed on the so-called White Schengen List, but also other legislation related to confiscation of property gained through criminal activity. A draft law on the Anti-Corruption Agency will also be on the agenda. The speaker will have to deal with an ongoing obstruction of parliament. Djukic-Dejanovic will try to resolve this situation in a meeting with caucus chiefs ahead of the session tomorrow. Belgrade newspapers are today exploring the cost of the parliamentary impasse, and so a Belgrade daily writes that MPs are paid regularly despite the fact that parliament has been blocked for most of the first four months of its mandate. Over this period, lawmakers have been regularly picking up their monthly checks of RSD 130,000 (about EUR 1,735) a month, plus daily wages. "The laziest of all MPs is Serb Radical Party (SRS) official Veran Panic, who has spent all of 35 minutes in parliament over the last four months", the newspaper reports. This means that Serbia’s citizens have paid RSD 14,857 (about EUR 198) for every minute of Panic’s presence. This per-minute figure is higher than the minimal monthly wage in this country. Official data from the Electronic Voting and Documentation Service shows that the ten members of parliament who have spent the least time in the benches come either from the SRS or the offshoot of this party, Forward Serbia caucus. Meanwhile, Djukic-Dejanovic had announced that if the opposition continues to block the work of the parliament, its rules of procedure will be implemented strictly. “As long as the current procedures are in effect, there is also the ability to block the parliament’s work. It can also be implemented more strictly than I have been doing, but for me the goal is to solve this through agreement with leaders of the MP groups,” Djukic-Dejanovic told daily Vecernje Novosti. She said that officials of the opposition “have the right to inform the citizens and MPs once or twice issues that they find important, but they cannot allow this to be the only content of their work.” The SRS lawmakers have spent much of the sessions last week protesting and demanding that the return of the party mandates taken by Tomislav Nikolic's Forward Serbia group. “We will try to reach an agreement with them for solving this problem. If this does not happen, I will implement the rules more strictly,” Djukic-Dejanovic said, adding that she will be issuing warnings and removing MPs from parliament if necessary. Asked in what way a new set of procedures would be able to eliminate obstruction, she said that “money fines for politicians are not so important". " A much greater punishment is political thwarting, such as warnings or other methods we discussed. There is not much room there – compromise is the only real solution and I have to find a way to cooperate with the opposition,” Djukic-Dejanovic said. MPs at work (FoNet)

Parliament in "Schengen session" Tuesday

Among them is the adoption of the laws that are one of the conditions for Serbia to be placed on the so-called White Schengen List, but also other legislation related to confiscation of property gained through criminal activity.

A draft law on the Anti-Corruption Agency will also be on the agenda.

The speaker will have to deal with an ongoing obstruction of parliament. Đukić-Dejanović will try to resolve this situation in a meeting with caucus chiefs ahead of the session tomorrow.

Belgrade newspapers are today exploring the cost of the parliamentary impasse, and so a Belgrade daily writes that MPs are paid regularly despite the fact that parliament has been blocked for most of the first four months of its mandate.

Over this period, lawmakers have been regularly picking up their monthly checks of RSD 130,000 (about EUR 1,735) a month, plus daily wages.

"The laziest of all MPs is Serb Radical Party (SRS) official Veran Panić, who has spent all of 35 minutes in parliament over the last four months", the newspaper reports.

This means that Serbia’s citizens have paid RSD 14,857 (about EUR 198) for every minute of Panić’s presence.

This per-minute figure is higher than the minimal monthly wage in this country.

Official data from the Electronic Voting and Documentation Service shows that the ten members of parliament who have spent the least time in the benches come either from the SRS or the offshoot of this party, Forward Serbia caucus.

Meanwhile, Đukić-Dejanović had announced that if the opposition continues to block the work of the parliament, its rules of procedure will be implemented strictly.

“As long as the current procedures are in effect, there is also the ability to block the parliament’s work. It can also be implemented more strictly than I have been doing, but for me the goal is to solve this through agreement with leaders of the MP groups,” Đukić-Dejanović told daily Večernje Novosti.

She said that officials of the opposition “have the right to inform the citizens and MPs once or twice issues that they find important, but they cannot allow this to be the only content of their work.”

The SRS lawmakers have spent much of the sessions last week protesting and demanding that the return of the party mandates taken by Tomislav Nikolić's Forward Serbia group.

“We will try to reach an agreement with them for solving this problem. If this does not happen, I will implement the rules more strictly,” Đukić-Dejanović said, adding that she will be issuing warnings and removing MPs from parliament if necessary.

Asked in what way a new set of procedures would be able to eliminate obstruction, she said that “money fines for politicians are not so important".

" A much greater punishment is political thwarting, such as warnings or other methods we discussed. There is not much room there – compromise is the only real solution and I have to find a way to cooperate with the opposition,” Đukić-Dejanović said.