SNS submits petition for change of Constitution

Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) leader Tomislav Nikolic submitted 304,580 signatures for the change of the Constitution to the Serbian parliament today. The SNS thinks that the number of MPs should be reduced from 250 to 125, that the number of ministers should be between 12 and 15 and that positions of state secretaries should be repealed. SNS submits petition for change of Constitution The SNS leader told reporters that the Progressives requested an extraordinary parliamentary session in order to discuss their proposal and that if the authorities did not meet their requests it would mean that they did not want to change Serbia. According to Nikolic, there are other chapters in the Serbian Constitution which “are not right” and the SNS is ready to talk about increased transfer of authorities to local self-governments but not about the changes to the preamble and the Constitution for the sake of the regionalization concept proposed by G17 plus. He added that he expected support of all parties who wanted citizens of Serbia to have a better life and announced that he would soon have very serious talks with the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) about the way to jointly achieve changes. The SNS leader pointed out that his goal was to implement a two-party system in Serbia but that he was not working with the Democratic Party (DS) on it. “Serbia cannot progress until this happens. As long as it has 17 parties in the government, Serbia cannot move forward,” Nikolic concluded. On the other hand, head of parliamentary group For European Serbia Nada Kolundzija thinks that the Progressives are only trying to keep their electorate active. “They know themselves that this action has no effect. If they are ready to change the Constitution, it would be better to show political willingness to talk about all the elements of the changes to the Constitution. It does not matter how many MPs there are in parliament, that’s not the most important issue when it comes to discussion about how Serbia should be formed as a state, primarily as a state that has a perspective to become a member of the EU,” she stressed. Political analyst Djordje Vukadinovic also believes that a desire to prove its strength to the electorate is behind the SNS’ initiative. He says, however, that the idea of changing the Constitution has exceeded those motives and “opened a Pandora’s box”. “Lots of others, from the SPO (Serbian Renewal Movement) to different gay-lesbian organizations, that the SNS would not be happy to see on the same front, have joined the initiative. The SNS has gotten into this lightly, sparking up controversy again, irritating the DSS and it opened the door to doubts that they are doing this in some kind of collusion with the DS,” Vukadinovic explained. The DSS said earlier that the SNS’ goal was actually to change the Constitution’s preamble according to which Kosovo is an integral part of Serbia. The SNS has denied the allegations. “The Serbian citizens would also have to go to a referendum in order to change the preamble,” political analyst Slavisa Orlovic points out. He added, however, that only a two-thirds majority in parliament was enough to change other regulations which were necessary for Serbia’s EU accession. “Other than inevitability of the changes to the Constitution, timing is also important, participants are important, but it’s also important how to reach two-thirds majority. The DS will try to remove all the obstacles on the European path and those are provisions of the Constitution regarding revoking of imperative mandate, blank resignation letters, some sort of change of the election system and changes of articles that refer to the international law’s supremacy,” he pointed out. Serbian President Boris Tadic said in 2006 that the present Constitution was a result of compromise, but he noted several times during 2009 that it was necessary to change it. He pointed out that the number of MPs should be reduced and that it would be an opportunity to solve the issue of regionalization and decentralization of Serbia. Tomislav Nikolic at a signature collection rally (Beta)

SNS submits petition for change of Constitution

The SNS leader told reporters that the Progressives requested an extraordinary parliamentary session in order to discuss their proposal and that if the authorities did not meet their requests it would mean that they did not want to change Serbia.

According to Nikolić, there are other chapters in the Serbian Constitution which “are not right” and the SNS is ready to talk about increased transfer of authorities to local self-governments but not about the changes to the preamble and the Constitution for the sake of the regionalization concept proposed by G17 plus.

He added that he expected support of all parties who wanted citizens of Serbia to have a better life and announced that he would soon have very serious talks with the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) about the way to jointly achieve changes.

The SNS leader pointed out that his goal was to implement a two-party system in Serbia but that he was not working with the Democratic Party (DS) on it.

“Serbia cannot progress until this happens. As long as it has 17 parties in the government, Serbia cannot move forward,” Nikolić concluded.

On the other hand, head of parliamentary group For European Serbia Nada Kolundžija thinks that the Progressives are only trying to keep their electorate active.

“They know themselves that this action has no effect. If they are ready to change the Constitution, it would be better to show political willingness to talk about all the elements of the changes to the Constitution. It does not matter how many MPs there are in parliament, that’s not the most important issue when it comes to discussion about how Serbia should be formed as a state, primarily as a state that has a perspective to become a member of the EU,” she stressed.

Political analyst Đorđe Vukadinović also believes that a desire to prove its strength to the electorate is behind the SNS’ initiative. He says, however, that the idea of changing the Constitution has exceeded those motives and “opened a Pandora’s box”.

“Lots of others, from the SPO (Serbian Renewal Movement) to different gay-lesbian organizations, that the SNS would not be happy to see on the same front, have joined the initiative. The SNS has gotten into this lightly, sparking up controversy again, irritating the DSS and it opened the door to doubts that they are doing this in some kind of collusion with the DS,” Vukadinović explained.

The DSS said earlier that the SNS’ goal was actually to change the Constitution’s preamble according to which Kosovo is an integral part of Serbia. The SNS has denied the allegations.

“The Serbian citizens would also have to go to a referendum in order to change the preamble,” political analyst Slaviša Orlović points out. He added, however, that only a two-thirds majority in parliament was enough to change other regulations which were necessary for Serbia’s EU accession.

“Other than inevitability of the changes to the Constitution, timing is also important, participants are important, but it’s also important how to reach two-thirds majority. The DS will try to remove all the obstacles on the European path and those are provisions of the Constitution regarding revoking of imperative mandate, blank resignation letters, some sort of change of the election system and changes of articles that refer to the international law’s supremacy,” he pointed out.

Serbian President Boris Tadić said in 2006 that the present Constitution was a result of compromise, but he noted several times during 2009 that it was necessary to change it. He pointed out that the number of MPs should be reduced and that it would be an opportunity to solve the issue of regionalization and decentralization of Serbia.