Eurasia Press & News
Serbian President Boris Tadic said changes should be made to the country’s constitution in order to reduce the number of deputies, streamline and decentralise government.
In the interview for the Vecrenje Novosti newspaper, Serbian President Boris Tadic also said that election laws must be changed, along with laws for the registration and financing of parties.
The president said that, personally, he saw no reason for Serbia to have 250 deputies, because for a country of its size, 150 was enough.
He said that the large number of ministries in the government was tied to the existing election laws which “enable many parties to participate in the elections, enter parliament with ease and set conditions for entering government”.
“That is how you have three coalition lists with 15 parties. And everyone has their own obligations to their voters,” Tadic said.
“Even if there were no substantial savings in reducing ministries, it is an important message to the citizens that the government can save and stand by them. This is why talks about downsizing the government are continuing,” the president said.
Asked about the Vojvodina statute, which is awaiting adoption and objections from other regions of Serbia owing to perceived double standards, Tadic said that constitutional change could help solve the problems of decentralization in Serbia.
“It is not natural for only Vojvodina to be a region with defined rules in Serbia, when other regions want the same rights. If Vojvodina was the only region, Serbia would be an asymmetric country, which would create constant instability. Quickly, the time will come to open that question, to change and improve our constitution when the topic of regionalisation comes up,” the president said.
