BELGRADE -- The Serbian Parliament proclaimed the new Constitution at an extraordinary meeting today.
Source: B92
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Parliamentary Speaker Predrag Marković has scheduled a meeting for tomorrow at 2 pm to discuss the implementation law.
According to B92’s sources, an agreement regarding the document has not been reached between the Democratic Party (DS) and the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS).
Unofficial reports state that the discussions between the two parties will continue today and if the DS and DSS officials do not reach an agreement, the Parliament will only proclaim the Constitution, without the law.
There has still been no meeting between President Boris Tadić and Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica, and B92 has no information hinting that the meeting will happen any time soon.
Former Constitutional Court President Slobodan Vučetić said that the Constitutional Law needs to be adopted along with the proclamation of the Constitution.
However, Serbian Government officials believe that the Constitution can be proclaimed without the law. Koštunica’s advisor Aleksandar Simić said that the proclamation of the new Constitution would mean that the old one would no longer be legally binding, and the regulation for the need to adopt the Constitutional Law simultaneously would be void as well.
Simić told Beta that the new Constitution cannot wait for the political parties to agree on a date for the elections.
“If this new constitution is proclaimed in the national parliament, we will no longer have our old constitution and therefore, we will have no regulations for simultaneously adopting the constitution and the law for its implementation. I expect that the Constitutional Implementation Law will be adopted quickly, but we must reach a party consensus for this to happen.” Simić said.
Former Supreme Court Judge Zoran Ivošević does not agree with this stance. He said that it would not be possible to adopt the Constitution without its accompanying law.
“If this happens, we are not acting according to the Constitution. The current Constitution gives the procedure for adopting the new one and it should be followed to the end.” Ivošević said.
Hurray! Whoopee! Great! Here we go again! Another farce in the Mickey Mouse concert that has become the political system of a so called democratic Serbia. Oh how they laugh at us from other democracies. A new constitution and no law with which to carry it. How long can this embarrassment go on? David Ivanovic, London.
(David Ivanovic, 9 November 2006 09:16)