Ruling coalition turns to opposition LDP

The Serbian parliament will vote on August 31 on 24 bills on which the debate ended on Wednesday. Parliament Speaker Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic said yesterday that on August 31, MPs will vote for the bills which were on the agenda of the special session which began on July 16. Ruling coalition turns to opposition LDP Djukic-Dejanovic told the press that the date was set after she was assured by the Serbian government that it would be able to, by that date, propose the agenda for another special session one day after the voting. No draft law on the present agenda influenced the setting of the date, including the changes to the Law on Public Information – which has caused heated polemics among experts and MPs – she said. "There is no law that particularly influenced this date. The result of the Aug. 31 vote will be the same as if the vote were held earlier." Among the 24 bills scheduled for voting are the amendments to the Law on Public Information and bills on National Councils of Ethnic Minorities, land development, social housing, culture, judiciary, health and finance. The Ruling Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) said earlier it would refrain from voting on the amendments to the so-called media law, while the majority of opposition parties and some of the ruling coalition - United Serbia (JS) and United Pensioners' Party (PUPS), both allied with the SPS in a pre-election coalition – said their MPs would vote against. A majority of 126 MPs of the total of 250 must vote in favor of the amendments if they are to be adopted, but the number of MPs who already said they would vote against was 127. Reacting to the set date for voting, opposition parties said that the speaker decided so because there is no majority at present for the adoption of the controversial changes. And as the ruling coalition faced problems in its own ranks, and most of the opposition called for early elections, the opposition Liberal Democrats (LDP) decided to come to come to the government's rescue – but with strings attached. The ruling Democratic Party (DS) and G17 Plus, and the LDP announced in identical statements late on Thursday that they had agreed to postpone the parliament vote until Aug. 31 to reach an agreement with journalist and media associations and agencies, and with European institutions, on passing not only the changes to the media law, but also a set of other laws regulating the media scene. Journalists' associations have welcomed this decision. No amendments to amendments G17 Plus Vice-President and Whip Suzana Grubjesic on Friday stated that the agreement reached by the DS, LDP and G17 Plus implies adoption of the present draft on amendments to the Law on Information, "without amendments", and to complete a set of media laws that would be adopted during the regular fall session of the Serbian parliament. “Every other interpretation of the agreement is untrue. On the vote day, August 31, we should get an answer to whether there is a parliament majority ready to finally break away from the system of the 1990s in which a lie was the basic political ammunition, while some media were weapons for political murders,” Grubjesic told Tanjug. According to her, every further delay of the vote on the changes to the Information Law is not in the public's interest but in the interest of those who profit on lies, slander and threats. Criticism On Thursday, Culture and Information Minister Nebojsa Bradic, who tabled the draft, said it was "good and written after consultations with journalist associations". This was denied by the Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS), who said they would give MPs a petition ahead of the session one month from now, urging them to vote against. The minister conceded the draft was a radical cut, but said it was necessary in order to bring order to a chaos in the media scene. Associations and experts, however, say the law was written in secrecy, and that it could turn into a dangerous weapon against the freedom of the media. UNS has asked U.S. law firm Covington & Burling to produce an analysis of the law, it was also revealed. B92 has learned that the OSCE mission analysts believe that the main shortcomings of the proposed changes include a ban on founders' rights to transfer ownership over media, which limits rights to property, which in turn constitutes one of the pillars of the free market. Announced shutting down of media whose accounts have been blocked for over three months, and fines against owners who do not comply are contrary to the European Convention of Human Rights, and are especially unacceptable during the economic crisis. OSCE experts also believe that the excessive money fines could lead to state censorship and conflicts not only with the Convention, but also with the position on similar issues of the European Court of Human Rights. They also criticized the fact that the work on the bill was not public, and that the proposed text was not put up for a public debate. Also yesterday, the Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organization (SEEMO), which is also an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), expressed its concern over these developments. It said that the excessive size of the fines called for in the amendments to the law could discourage investigative journalism, and lead to self-censorship and the closure of some media outlets. "Moreover, SEEMO is concerned that the Serbian government supports a law that could potentially stop the democratic development currently taking place in Serbia. The state must be careful when putting in place legal regulations, especially with regard to the size of financial penalties. Media self-regulation, with its voluntary codes of practice, is the most credible solution for responsible journalism, not regulations imposed by the state," the statement said. The organization also said it was surprised by the Serbian government's lack of transparency and public debate in drafting this law. "According to information obtained by SEEMO, well-known Serbian and international media experts were only partly informed about the new law, and were not contacted during the drafting of the changes," the statement said.

Ruling coalition turns to opposition LDP

Đukić-Dejanović told the press that the date was set after she was assured by the Serbian government that it would be able to, by that date, propose the agenda for another special session one day after the voting.

No draft law on the present agenda influenced the setting of the date, including the changes to the Law on Public Information – which has caused heated polemics among experts and MPs – she said.

"There is no law that particularly influenced this date. The result of the Aug. 31 vote will be the same as if the vote were held earlier."

Among the 24 bills scheduled for voting are the amendments to the Law on Public Information and bills on National Councils of Ethnic Minorities, land development, social housing, culture, judiciary, health and finance.

The Ruling Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) said earlier it would refrain from voting on the amendments to the so-called media law, while the majority of opposition parties and some of the ruling coalition - United Serbia (JS) and United Pensioners' Party (PUPS), both allied with the SPS in a pre-election coalition – said their MPs would vote against.

A majority of 126 MPs of the total of 250 must vote in favor of the amendments if they are to be adopted, but the number of MPs who already said they would vote against was 127.

Reacting to the set date for voting, opposition parties said that the speaker decided so because there is no majority at present for the adoption of the controversial changes.

And as the ruling coalition faced problems in its own ranks, and most of the opposition called for early elections, the opposition Liberal Democrats (LDP) decided to come to come to the government's rescue – but with strings attached.

The ruling Democratic Party (DS) and G17 Plus, and the LDP announced in identical statements late on Thursday that they had agreed to postpone the parliament vote until Aug. 31 to reach an agreement with journalist and media associations and agencies, and with European institutions, on passing not only the changes to the media law, but also a set of other laws regulating the media scene.

Journalists' associations have welcomed this decision.

No amendments to amendments

G17 Plus Vice-President and Whip Suzana Grubješić on Friday stated that the agreement reached by the DS, LDP and G17 Plus implies adoption of the present draft on amendments to the Law on Information, "without amendments", and to complete a set of media laws that would be adopted during the regular fall session of the Serbian parliament.

“Every other interpretation of the agreement is untrue. On the vote day, August 31, we should get an answer to whether there is a parliament majority ready to finally break away from the system of the 1990s in which a lie was the basic political ammunition, while some media were weapons for political murders,” Grubješić told Tanjug.

According to her, every further delay of the vote on the changes to the Information Law is not in the public's interest but in the interest of those who profit on lies, slander and threats.

Criticism

On Thursday, Culture and Information Minister Nebojša Bradić, who tabled the draft, said it was "good and written after consultations with journalist associations".

This was denied by the Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS), who said they would give MPs a petition ahead of the session one month from now, urging them to vote against.

The minister conceded the draft was a radical cut, but said it was necessary in order to bring order to a chaos in the media scene.

Associations and experts, however, say the law was written in secrecy, and that it could turn into a dangerous weapon against the freedom of the media.

UNS has asked U.S. law firm Covington & Burling to produce an analysis of the law, it was also revealed.

B92 has learned that the OSCE mission analysts believe that the main shortcomings of the proposed changes include a ban on founders' rights to transfer ownership over media, which limits rights to property, which in turn constitutes one of the pillars of the free market.

Announced shutting down of media whose accounts have been blocked for over three months, and fines against owners who do not comply are contrary to the European Convention of Human Rights, and are especially unacceptable during the economic crisis.

OSCE experts also believe that the excessive money fines could lead to state censorship and conflicts not only with the Convention, but also with the position on similar issues of the European Court of Human Rights.

They also criticized the fact that the work on the bill was not public, and that the proposed text was not put up for a public debate.

Also yesterday, the Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organization (SEEMO), which is also an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), expressed its concern over these developments.

It said that the excessive size of the fines called for in the amendments to the law could discourage investigative journalism, and lead to self-censorship and the closure of some media outlets.

"Moreover, SEEMO is concerned that the Serbian government supports a law that could potentially stop the democratic development currently taking place in Serbia. The state must be careful when putting in place legal regulations, especially with regard to the size of financial penalties. Media self-regulation, with its voluntary codes of practice, is the most credible solution for responsible journalism, not regulations imposed by the state," the statement said.

The organization also said it was surprised by the Serbian government's lack of transparency and public debate in drafting this law.

"According to information obtained by SEEMO, well-known Serbian and international media experts were only partly informed about the new law, and were not contacted during the drafting of the changes," the statement said.