The Chairman of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Predrag Markovic, and the Serbian Prime Minister, Vojislav Kostunica, today discussed the process of adopting a new constitution for the Republic of Serbia. In a statement issued after the meeting, Mr Markovic underlined that no member of the ruling coalition, including the Prime Minister, had in any way slowed down the adoption of a new constitution. He announced that he would schedule talks as early as today to discuss the issue with the Serbian President, the leader of the largest party in parliament, and representatives of other parliamentary parties. Mr Markovic added that he and the Prime Minister were ready to call a joint meeting with all the relevant officials to accelerate the adoption of a new constitution.

Mr Kostunica expressed his pleasure at the outcome of discussions with the Assembly Chairman, adding that the talks had focused on a single issue only: adopting a new constitution for Serbia. In his address to the media he outlined the timeline of work carried out on drafting a new constitution so far, concluding that it had not borne any fruit yet. He emphasised that Serbia needed a new constitution as the foundation for a strong nation, as well as that this, the most important piece of legislation, needed to be adopted with the maximum of political consensus.