Today, on the eve of Serbia’s National Day, the Chairman of the National Assembly, Predrag Markovic, presented diplomas to the first group of participants in the 2006 Internship Programme.

Addressing the interns in an event attended by the Assembly Secretary, officials of the Assembly Support Service, and the media, Mr Markovic said: ‘When you entered this, the nation’s highest house, you will have seen a plaque at the entrance. The plaque displays the Serbian coat of arms, and the inscription “National Assembly”. Whenever you see that coat of arms, that is where the state of Serbia lives.’ Mr Markovic underlined that all of us would, in the near future, follow the implementation of the many laws adopted by the present Assembly convocation. ‘All of you have heard that this convocation, in which no party or coalition is guaranteed a majority, has adopted the greatest number of laws in the history of Serbian parliamentarianism. In short, political representatives of Serbia’s citizens have managed to set aside all of their differences, and agree on many common positions of importance. And, at the same time, you have seen arguments, accusations, and incriminations. How is that possible? Of course, it takes complicated procedure, and patient work by many who cannot be seen in the televised broadcasts. As part of your internship at the National Assembly you will come to know this work, and this procedure, and we are convinced that this knowledge will be of use to all of us, since it is only together that we can understand, preserve, and develop this fragile tradition of parliamentarianism in Serbia’, Mr Markovic concluded.

With the diplomas, the 10 highest-scoring interns were presented with the book Parliamentary Process Law, while the two highest-ranked, Nevena Ceklic and Aleksandar Markovic, were also awarded the Lesser Medal of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia.