Almost All Serbia’s Draft Laws Withdrawn

The new government of Serbia withdrew almost all the draft legislation of the previous administration on Tuesday.Out of the 79 bills submitted to parliament by the previous government only two remained – the bill on payment deadlines for users of public funds and government companies and the amendments to the law on value added tax.

Both laws were proposed by the Democratic Party of Serbia, which was in opposition to the previous government, and remains in opposition to the new administration.The other 77 draft laws, which dealt mainly with the ratification of international treaties and agreements, have been withdrawn, even though some of the bill were introduced by the Socialist party that now forms part of the ruling coalition.

Veljko Odalovic, parliament’s Secretary-General, said that the bills submitted to parliament by the previous government were withdrawn for technical reasons.

“The majority of these bills will be returned to parliament in the same or similar form,” added Odalovic.

The new government, which consists of the Serbian Progressive Party, the Socialists and the United Regions of Serbia, was sworn in on Friday. Ivica Dacic, the leader of the Socialists and formerly the right-hand man of Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic, is at the helm of the government.

The list of withdrawn draft legislation also included proposed amendments to current laws, including changes to the Law on Public Procurement.

When they signed the coalition agreement, the new government leadership stated that they would introduce a new law on procurement.

Last week, Serbia’s Public Procurement Office found irregularities in procurements worth up to 70 million euros in the first half of 2012 – over three times the cost of the irregularities that were identified in the whole of 2011.

Aside from international treaties and agreements, the list of withdrawn bills includes amendments to the Law on the confiscation of the proceeds of crime and the protection of witnesses in criminal proceedings, a bill on co-operation with the International Criminal Court, and a law on free access to information.