CoE delegation by week’s end

Parliament has finished its debate and is due to vote on members of permanent delegations to international parliamentary institutions by the end of the week. There is still no consensus, however, amongst the parties about the make-up of those delegations. CoE delegation by week’s end Natasa Jovanovic from the Serb Radical Party (SRS) told B92 last night that Tomislav Nikolic’s Serb Progressive Party could not participate in these delegations as it had not participated in the elections. “The Code of Procedure compels Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic to keep in mind the proportion of parties and sexes represented. When she undertook the job of parliamentary speaker, she accepted a parliament with 250 mandates based on a report from the Republic Electoral Committee,” said Jovanovic. “This report from May 28 in Strasbourg spoke only of the Serb Radical Party, which has 78 mandates, and not about a phantom group which might appear,” she added. The governing coalition, on the other hand, continues to insist that every representative group should be proportionally represented. Democratic Party member Milos Jevtic, speaking to B92, said that until now there had not been a problem about the composition of the delegation. “We will probably vote this week and, as you know, the delegation will return to the Council of Europe in more or less similar form and we will work together, primarily on certain things that are in the interests of Serbian citizens,” said Jevtic. “In fact we wanted to delay the vote in order to come to an inter-party agreement, and when we’d reached that agreement to have a vote, as we’ve always had until now. That’s why our delegation has still to be formed,” he explained. Due to the inability of the parties to agree on the make-up of the delegations, Serbia is not represented at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe ’s winter session, which began on Monday and runs until Friday.

CoE delegation by week’s end

Nataša Jovanović from the Serb Radical Party (SRS) told B92 last night that Tomislav Nikolić’s Serb Progressive Party could not participate in these delegations as it had not participated in the elections.

“The Code of Procedure compels Slavica Đukić-Dejanović to keep in mind the proportion of parties and sexes represented. When she undertook the job of parliamentary speaker, she accepted a parliament with 250 mandates based on a report from the Republic Electoral Committee,” said Jovanović.

“This report from May 28 in Strasbourg spoke only of the Serb Radical Party, which has 78 mandates, and not about a phantom group which might appear,” she added.

The governing coalition, on the other hand, continues to insist that every representative group should be proportionally represented. Democratic Party member Miloš Jevtić, speaking to B92, said that until now there had not been a problem about the composition of the delegation.

“We will probably vote this week and, as you know, the delegation will return to the Council of Europe in more or less similar form and we will work together, primarily on certain things that are in the interests of Serbian citizens,” said Jevtić.

“In fact we wanted to delay the vote in order to come to an inter-party agreement, and when we’d reached that agreement to have a vote, as we’ve always had until now. That’s why our delegation has still to be formed,” he explained.

Due to the inability of the parties to agree on the make-up of the delegations, Serbia is not represented at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe ’s winter session, which began on Monday and runs until Friday.