Vojvodina assembly adopts amendments to statute

Vojvodina assembly adopts amendments to statute

99 out of 120 assembly members voted in favor, while six were against.

The Democratic Party of Serbia and the Serb Radical Party voted against the amendments, while the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina (LSV) did not take part in the vote.

In the debate, most party whips said that Assembly Speaker Istvan Pasztor deserves the most credit for the fact that it has been tabled to the assembly.

All political parties demonstrated a maximum level of seriousness in the process of amending the statute, while the Assembly of Vojvodina showed that it is a serious institution by ensuring more than the two thirds of votes (80) required for adopting it, Pasztor said.

LSV whip Branislav Bogaroški said that the party's representatives, as advocates of respect of law and courts, cannot vote against the proposed statute after the Constitutional Court of Serbia ordered the amendments.

The proposed statute is a result of many compromises, Bogaroški said, adding that the LSV also cannot abstain from voting on such a "major issue", announcing that the party's representatives will take no part in the vote.

Socialist Party of Serbia whip Pavle Budakov said that, after making a series of compromises, opposition parties in the Assembly made a greater contribution to the adoption of the statute than the ruling coalition (led by the Democratic Party).

Predrag Matejin of the Serb Progressive Party (SNS) said that the SNS, which leads the governing coalition at national level, could have declined to take part in the vote, and cause a crisis.

On these grounds, the SNS could have toppled the Vojvodina authorities, but what it wanted to do instead is to contribute to the statute and its compliance with the constitution and Serbia's legal system, Matejin said.

Last December, the Constitutional Court of Serbia established that 40 provisions of the Vojvodina statute do not comply with the constitution, setting a six-month deadline for amending it, which expires on June 6.

The new Vojvodina statute is to be discussed in the Serbian parliament, and will be adopted as final by a declaration of the Vojvodina assembly.

"Constitution must be amended"

The Serbian constitution must be amended because it does not comply with European standards, head of the Vojvodina provincial government Bojan Pajtić (DS) said on Wednesday ahead of the vote in the assembly in Novi Sad.

"The constitution is unclear on many issues and leaves much unsaid, and if the country aspires to join the European family of nations, it must amend the act in the coming years or months," Pajtić told reporters.

He said that the message that Serbia as a state must "do more to ensure an independent status of institutions" such as the Constitutional Court of Serbia will be sent from the session of the provincial assembly, which is discussing the proposed new statute of Vojvodina.

The proposed changes to the current statute will be adopted in the provincial assembly because the majority required for that is there, but this leaves "a bitter aftertaste, because certain provisions significant for the development of the province" have been deleted pursuant to a decision of the Constitutional Court of Serbia, Pajtić said.

"Under the decision, the province cannot provide additional financial assistance to pregnant women and mothers of newborn babies, and no longer has the authority to take certain measures in agriculture," Pajtić said.

In spite of this, the Democratic Party (DS) will vote for the amended statute of Vojvodina, said Pajtić, who is also the DS deputy leader, adding that it will be a "forced move".

Last year, the Constitutional Court of Serbia established that 40 provisions of the statute of Vojvodina do not comply with the constitution, setting a six-month deadline - expiring on June 6 - for aligning them with the constitution.