At the invitation of the Secretary General of the Standing Conference of Cities and Municipalities, Djordje Stanicic, the Chairman of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Predrag Markovic, today attended the 35^th annual Assembly of the Standing Conference of Cities and Municipalities, held at Belgrade's Sava Centre under the motto `Achieving better local self-government through partnership between central and local authorities`. At the official opening of the conference, attended by the Serbian Prime Minister, Vojislav Kostunica, Cabinet Ministers, chairpersons of municipal assemblies, mayors and Standing Conference officials, the Assembly was addressed by Mr Markovic.

Speaking about the importance of co-operation between central and local authorities, Mr Markovic explained that this involved both assuming and delegating responsibilities. `Our responsibilities are of the post-election kind: they come after elections have finished, when it is time to implement policies. Then you must not wonder about what might have been, you must do what you have been elected to do, and for that you need good co-operation at all levels and the right information so that you can use all your capacities to fulfil your obligations`, Mr Markovic said. He commended the efforts of local officials, who worked together with the Standing Conference and NGOs to draft a Local Self-Government Property Bill, which was presented to the public by the National Assembly. The Assembly also fulfilled the promise made by its Chairman by establishing the Local Self-Government Committee, which steered the Bill into Assembly procedure. Another promise has been fulfilled – the Bill was put onto the agenda of the National Assembly's December session. Mr Markovic again re-iterated that he had, even before meeting these promises, when he was Acting President of the Republic, recommended that local self-government bodies should return property to its rightful owners wherever possible under legislation currently in force.

Mr Markovic added that a number of laws adopted by the National Assembly have transferred some responsibilities to the local level, citing as an example the set of health care laws, the Family Act, as well as a number of fiscal laws. `This framework means that a large part of responsibilities are transferred to local self-government bodies, in accordance with policy adopted by the National Assembly, and implemented by the Government, which is now delegating a part of these responsibilities to you. If co-operation between you and the Government is successful, you will have correct information, and will all share the responsibility for our country. In this convocation the National Assembly has adopted 196 laws, and it is up to you to implement them`, Mr Markovic concluded.