Constitution is flawed, says head of provincial government

Bojan Pajtić has said that he did not believe the present balance of political powers would allow for "appropriate changes to the Constitution".

Izvor: Tanjug

Monday, 30.07.2012.

13:38

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NOVI SAD Bojan Pajtic has said that he did not believe the present balance of political powers would allow for "appropriate changes to the Constitution". The head of the Vojvodina provincial government - an official of the Democratic Party, which is now in opposition on the state level - added the country should certainly change its Constitution "which has many flaws" in order to become a member of the EU. Constitution is flawed, says head of provincial government "The problem is that the present balance of powers in the state parliament does not guarantee this would happen in line with European standards. Personally, I am not sure such a process would be completed in line with the country's interests right now," Pajtic said in an interview for Novi Sad's Hungarian language daily Magyar Szo. Commenting on the recent rulings of the Constitutional Court of Serbia in connection with the law establishing jurisdictions of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, the prime minister said he expected the Court to issue a similar ruling on the Vojvodina Statute, since the two documents were harmonized. He said the citizens of Vojvodina had trouble accepting the fact that "Nis and Kragujevac can have offices in Brussels, but not Vojvodina." Commenting on the statements of the Constitutional Court president, who said there was no intention to undercut Vojvodina's rights, Pajtic said "anyone can give a statement, but I think the decision that the province cannot transfer its rights to national councils, for example, is quite clear." "We have transferred the founder's share in papers published in national minority languages, including Magyar Szo, to national councils, because we believe it is natural and logical that the legitimately elected representatives of the national communities be in charge of these media outlets," said Pajtic. He also said he thought it illogical to question the right of the provincial assembly to decide that six languages would be in official use in provincial institutions, stressing he was proud that "Vojvodina is the only European region with this setup." "It is sad that in 2012 someone would dispute this advantage of Vojvodina and put us in the same basket with Sumadija or central Serbia in terms of culture. We have our unique qualities, different national communities live here, whose national identity we wish to preserve. We are simply not ready to give up on this," said Pajtic. (FoNet, file) Tanjug

Constitution is flawed, says head of provincial government

"The problem is that the present balance of powers in the state parliament does not guarantee this would happen in line with European standards. Personally, I am not sure such a process would be completed in line with the country's interests right now," Pajtić said in an interview for Novi Sad's Hungarian language daily Magyar Szo.

Commenting on the recent rulings of the Constitutional Court of Serbia in connection with the law establishing jurisdictions of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, the prime minister said he expected the Court to issue a similar ruling on the Vojvodina Statute, since the two documents were harmonized.

He said the citizens of Vojvodina had trouble accepting the fact that "Nis and Kragujevac can have offices in Brussels, but not Vojvodina."

Commenting on the statements of the Constitutional Court president, who said there was no intention to undercut Vojvodina's rights, Pajtić said "anyone can give a statement, but I think the decision that the province cannot transfer its rights to national councils, for example, is quite clear."

"We have transferred the founder's share in papers published in national minority languages, including Magyar Szo, to national councils, because we believe it is natural and logical that the legitimately elected representatives of the national communities be in charge of these media outlets," said Pajtić.

He also said he thought it illogical to question the right of the provincial assembly to decide that six languages would be in official use in provincial institutions, stressing he was proud that "Vojvodina is the only European region with this setup."

"It is sad that in 2012 someone would dispute this advantage of Vojvodina and put us in the same basket with Šumadija or central Serbia in terms of culture. We have our unique qualities, different national communities live here, whose national identity we wish to preserve. We are simply not ready to give up on this," said Pajtić.

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