26 March 2015 Participants of the roundtable on the Reform of the Electoral System in the Republic of Serbia

26 March 2015 Participants of the roundtable on the Reform of the Electoral System in the Republic of Serbia

Thursday, 26 March 2015

Roundtable on Reform of Electoral System in Republic of Serbia

The National Assembly House hosted a roundtable on the Reform of the Electoral System in the Republic of Serbia, co-organised by the National Assembly and the National Democratic Institute.


Opening the roundtable, National Assembly Deputy Speaker Prof. Dr Vladimir Marinkovic emphasised the importance of debate for the electoral reform. He said that the economic reform should be accompanied by a reform of the political system in order to ensure the development of democracy in the society. With a general social consensus of all the relevant factors – political parties, academic and expert public and civil society organisations, we should come up with an electoral system that encourages competitiveness and boosts the MPs’ accountability to the voters, as well as ensure that all the regions and local self-governments have their representatives in the National Assembly, stressed Marinkovic.
National Assembly Deputy Speaker Veroljub Arsic said that the electoral system must be such that every parliament, no matter at what the level of government, clearly reflects the will of the citizens. Among the important issues he listed the number of electoral units and territorial representation, as well as the independence of the MPs.
The participants of the roundtable were also addressed by Assistant Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government Sasa Mogic and the Director of the National Democratic Institute in Serbia (NDI) Lidija Prokic who emphasised the importance of exchanging views in a wide social dialogue which would result in an electoral system that fits the citizens and promotes the development of democracy. They also stressed the importance of fostering stronger ties between the citizens and their elected representatives.
In addition to the MPs and representatives of the executive, the roundtable was also attended by members of the academic community and experts on electoral legislation, as well as relevant representatives of civil society.
Prof. Dr Vladimir Goati, Assistant Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government Sasa Mogic and Mladen Jovanovic of the National Coalition for Decentralisation spoke of the challenges of the existing electoral legislation in Serbia. They gave an overview of the development of electoral legislation in Serbia, assessments of the existing electoral system and broached the subject of regional representation.
The roundtable also touched on alternative models and suggestions for the amendment of the electoral system. Prof. Dr Milan Jovanovic presented different electoral system models. Prof. Dr Marijana Pajvancic spoke about electoral legislation and participation of women in decision-making, as well as representation of national minorities. Representative of the Centre for Free Elections and Democracy (CESID) Dr Djordje Vukovic also shared a suggestion about how to amend the electoral system.
In the course of the discussion, the participants of the roundtable exchanged opinions and views on the electoral system models, regional representation and representation of women and national minorities in the Parliament.



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thursday, 28 march
  • 9.00 - consultations of representatives of the parliamentary groups about the election of deputy chairpersons of the National Assembly working bodies (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square, hall 1)

  • 10.00 - visit of the students of Stevan Dukic Elementary School to the National Assembly House (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square)

  • 11.00 - visit of the students of Drinka Pavlovic Elementary School Student Parliament to the National Assembly House (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square)

  • 11.00 - press conference of the Green-Left Front – Don’t Let Belgrade D(r)оwn Parliamentary Group (National Assembly House 13, Nikola Pasic Square. Central Hall)

  • 13.00 - the National Assembly Speaker meets with the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the Republic of Serbia (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square, Speaker’s Cabinet)

Full event calendar