Parliament debating SAA

Parliament has resumed its emergency session with a debate on the first item of the agenda—SAA ratification. Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic outlined to MPs the draft resolution for ratification of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA), as well as the benefits of Serbia joining the EU. Parliament debating SAA At the beginning of the session, Serb Radical Party (SRS) Deputy Whip Dragan Todorovic said that the SRS wanted to help Serbia move forward, and that at yesterday’s session they had tried to elicit what had really happened at the SRS meeting on July 29. Todorovic pointed out that the SRS had no intention of obstructing the work of parliament, and that they would give the government “a chance” to compile a report on the events that took place during the party's ill-fated July 29 meeting, where one protestor, Ranko Panic, lost his life, and to forward it to MPs by the end of the week. “We are reasonable people, and our wish is to help this country to move forward. We want to establish the truth, and not to obstruct for obstruction’s sake. You have to realize that you will have to state the facts for once,” Todorovic stressed, adding that the SRS also expected answers about the circumstances leading to the arrest of Radovan Karadzic. He said that he would distribute CDs containing footage filmed by B92 and Studio B TV that would, he said, show the police beating citizens, an issue that SRS MPs discussed at length during yesterday’s session. Parliament resumed its work yesterday after a summer recess, but instead of debating the items on the agenda, the opposition insisted on apportioning responsibility for the events that took place during the protest against Karadzic’s arrest. The opposition also wanted to know why the EULEX mission and the Kosovo Constitution had not been included on the session’s agenda. The session, whose agenda includes the energy agreement with Russia, ratification of a dozen or so financial arrangements for various projects around Serbia, as well as the government’s draft resolution on continuing the state policy on Kosovo, started on July 16. Parliament today (Beta, archive) Speaker awaiting new parliamentary code Slavica Djukic Dejanovic said that the SRS’s behavior in parliament is the result of a sub-standard Code of Procedure. “The form of sanctioning envisaged by the current code is no good and does not have as its purpose improving the quality of work, and that is why I won’t react until a new law on parliament allows sanctioning that will have some point,” the parliamentary speaker told B92. Djukic Dejanovic said that warnings would not curb the “frequency of curses and insults” aimed by the Serb Radical Party at the ruling coalition and its officials, given their number and the fact they were taking advantage of the Code’s shortcomings to speak from the podium many times. “On several occasions, as during other sessions, I have warned officials to respect the dignity of the parliament, but with the vocabulary they employ, which they use in parliament on a daily basis, they received that number of supporters at the last elections, which should be respected,” Djukic Dejanovic said. She said that it was all right for the Radicals to “take their anger out” at yesterday’s parliamentary session and ask certain questions of parliament relating to the circumstances in which one of their supporters, Ranko Panic, was injured and later died during the party’s protests against Radovan Karadzic’s arrest. “We worked outside the agenda, but on issues that are important for Serbian citizens and the political situation in the country. I am convinced that we will work according to the agenda, which is after all more important than anything else, provided we’re patient and have understanding for their needs,” Djukic Dejanovic explained. Stating that every MP group had its own characteristics, the speaker said that the Serb Radical Party nurtured this style and vocabulary which they enriched periodically with something else that was meant to have a popular ring, something close to the people. “By coming out with these curses and evil premonitions that can potentially be carried over to the family there is something magical and something that Serbian citizens of the 21st century should judge for themselves,” she said. The speaker said that all political events in Serbia were debated in parliament, such as the election of the local government in Belgrade, the arrest of Karadzic, and the recent protests organized by the SRS in reaction to the arrest. “And everything that happens in Serbia is simply shown as a political rally for which the parliamentary rostrum is used,” she added. “The fate of the bills will be that we will obviously have to reach a compromise with the opposition in order to pass them, and their enactment is absolutely in the interests of all citizens,” Djukic Dejanovic stressed.

Parliament debating SAA

At the beginning of the session, Serb Radical Party (SRS) Deputy Whip Dragan Todorović said that the SRS wanted to help Serbia move forward, and that at yesterday’s session they had tried to elicit what had really happened at the SRS meeting on July 29.

Todorović pointed out that the SRS had no intention of obstructing the work of parliament, and that they would give the government “a chance” to compile a report on the events that took place during the party's ill-fated July 29 meeting, where one protestor, Ranko Panić, lost his life, and to forward it to MPs by the end of the week.

“We are reasonable people, and our wish is to help this country to move forward. We want to establish the truth, and not to obstruct for obstruction’s sake. You have to realize that you will have to state the facts for once,” Todorović stressed, adding that the SRS also expected answers about the circumstances leading to the arrest of Radovan Karadžić.

He said that he would distribute CDs containing footage filmed by B92 and Studio B TV that would, he said, show the police beating citizens, an issue that SRS MPs discussed at length during yesterday’s session.

Parliament resumed its work yesterday after a summer recess, but instead of debating the items on the agenda, the opposition insisted on apportioning responsibility for the events that took place during the protest against Karadžić’s arrest. The opposition also wanted to know why the EULEX mission and the Kosovo Constitution had not been included on the session’s agenda.

The session, whose agenda includes the energy agreement with Russia, ratification of a dozen or so financial arrangements for various projects around Serbia, as well as the government’s draft resolution on continuing the state policy on Kosovo, started on July 16.

Speaker awaiting new parliamentary code

Slavica Đukić Dejanović said that the SRS’s behavior in parliament is the result of a sub-standard Code of Procedure.

“The form of sanctioning envisaged by the current code is no good and does not have as its purpose improving the quality of work, and that is why I won’t react until a new law on parliament allows sanctioning that will have some point,” the parliamentary speaker told B92.

Đukić Dejanović said that warnings would not curb the “frequency of curses and insults” aimed by the Serb Radical Party at the ruling coalition and its officials, given their number and the fact they were taking advantage of the Code’s shortcomings to speak from the podium many times.

“On several occasions, as during other sessions, I have warned officials to respect the dignity of the parliament, but with the vocabulary they employ, which they use in parliament on a daily basis, they received that number of supporters at the last elections, which should be respected,” Đukić Dejanović said.

She said that it was all right for the Radicals to “take their anger out” at yesterday’s parliamentary session and ask certain questions of parliament relating to the circumstances in which one of their supporters, Ranko Panić, was injured and later died during the party’s protests against Radovan Karadžić’s arrest.

“We worked outside the agenda, but on issues that are important for Serbian citizens and the political situation in the country. I am convinced that we will work according to the agenda, which is after all more important than anything else, provided we’re patient and have understanding for their needs,” Đukić Dejanović explained.

Stating that every MP group had its own characteristics, the speaker said that the Serb Radical Party nurtured this style and vocabulary which they enriched periodically with something else that was meant to have a popular ring, something close to the people.

“By coming out with these curses and evil premonitions that can potentially be carried over to the family there is something magical and something that Serbian citizens of the 21st century should judge for themselves,” she said.

The speaker said that all political events in Serbia were debated in parliament, such as the election of the local government in Belgrade, the arrest of Karadžić, and the recent protests organized by the SRS in reaction to the arrest.

“And everything that happens in Serbia is simply shown as a political rally for which the parliamentary rostrum is used,” she added.

“The fate of the bills will be that we will obviously have to reach a compromise with the opposition in order to pass them, and their enactment is absolutely in the interests of all citizens,” Đukić Dejanović stressed.