The speaker of the Serbian Parliament, Ivica Dacic, called for a referendum on the revision of the Constitution last Tuesday night.
The referendum will take place on January 16.
The content of the review concerns the rule of law and the election of judges and prosecutors.
The citizens of Serbia will be asked to answer, simply with yes or no, to the question “are you in favor of the ratification of a legislative act for the revision of the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia?”
Ivica Dacic has denied rumors that the article stipulates that Kosovo is an integral part of Serbia. He insisted that this is an amendment to articles related to issues of justice.
Under the new Constitution, judges and prosecutors will no longer be elected by Parliament, by a simple majority, as has been the case until now. Judges will be elected by the Supreme Council of Judges, a new independent Authority consisting of 11 members, six of whom will be elected by the judiciary, four by Parliament – by a two-thirds majority – and the eleventh member will be the President of the Supreme Court. Prosecutors will no longer be appointed by the Minister of Justice, but by the Supreme Council of Prosecutors. The Serbian Parliament, by a two-thirds majority, will be called upon to approve their appointments.
These amendments were approved by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe. The EU, in the process of accession negotiations with Serbia, called for a revision of the Constitution in order to guarantee the independence of the judiciary.
But the article on Kosovo, which is considered by European institutions to be a brake on reaching an agreement with Pristina, will not be repealed. “Our position is very clear: Kosovo is an integral part of Serbia,” said Parliament Speaker Dacic.
Dacic called on citizens to go to the polls on January 16th, stressing the importance of the referendum for Serbia’s European course.
The day before yesterday, the Serbian parliament voted in favor of an amendment to the law on holding referendums, removing the lower turnout threshold (50%) for the result to be considered valid.
Source: AMPE
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Source From: Capital
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