http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2008&mm=02&dd=06&nav_id=47511
Deputy PM calls for cabinet meeting as crisis looms
6 February 2008 | 13:05 -> 16:29 | Source: Beta
BELGRADE -- Božidar Đelić and 16 ministers have called for the prime
minister to call a cabinet meeting.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica says that the country’s
constitutional order is threatened.
“Dear Prime Minister, we ask that in line with Article 52, Paragraph 1
of the Government’s Rules of Procedure, you call a cabinet meeting for
Thursday, February 7, 2008, where the government will, among other
things, decide on the transitional political agreement on cooperation
between the European Union and its member-states and the Republic of
Serbia,” reads a request from the ministers.
At the session, a decision should also be taken on a motion from a
certain number of MPs for an emergency session of parliament to be called.
Article 52, paragraph 1 stipulates that the prime minister calls cabinet
meetings in written form, 24 hours in advance.
The request was signed by Deputy Prime Minister Božidar Đelić and 16
ministers from the Democratic Party (DS) and G17 Plus - Vuk Jeremić,
Dragan Šutanovac, Mirko Cvetković, Dušan Petrović, Milan Marković,
Slobodan Milosavljević, Mlađan Dinkić, Aleksandra Smiljanić, Rasim
Ljajić, Ana Pešikan, Saša Dragin, Snežana Samardžić Marković, Vojislav
Brajović, Tomica MIlosavljević, Milica Čubrilo and Dragan Đilas.
The government has a prime minister, a deputy prime minister and 23
ministers.
Of 25 members altogether, 13 are from the ranks of the DS, 4 from G17
Plus, seven from the Democratic Party of Serbia, and one from New Serbia.
Koštunica warns of threat to constitutional order
Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica has once again called for parliament
to convene.
Koštunica said that obstruction of the parliament’s work would pose a
threat to constitutional order.
In a statement delivered to Beta, the prime minister said that the
political instability in the country represented the greatest danger to
the continued preservation of constitutional order, at a time when the
Kosovo independence declaration was believed to be just days away.
“And the most serious form of instability is the obstruction of the
National Parliament’s work, trivializing and ignoring its acts,
particularly resolutions passed in line with the Constitution and
international law, that pertain to the defense of Serbia’s sovereignty
and territorial integrity,“ read the statement.
Koštunica said that it was necessary for parliament to hold a session
immediately “and confirm national unity, which would be the best way of
maintaining the country’s stability, respect for the Constitution and
the protection of constitutional order.“
On Tuesday, Parliamentary Speaker Oliver Dulić scheduled whip
consultations on an extraordinary parliamentary session to be held on
Feb. 11.
Dulić told journalists that parliament, as before, would wait for the
government to give its opinion on the initiative by the Democratic Party
of Serbia and the New Serbia party and appoint ministers who would
consult with the whips.
Dulić added that Kosovo was a very important topic, which is why it
would be good for the document to be passed with a consensus or at least
in agreement with the biggest caucuses.
The Democratic Party of Serbia-New Serbia coalition proposed earlier on
Feb. 5 the urgent calling of an extraordinary parliamentary session to
debate a decision on the announced dispatch of a European Union mission
to Kosovo.
Koštunica described the political agreement offered to Serbia by the EU
as "deception," while Dulić said he saw no reason to rush with
scheduling the session before the government had given its opinion on
the proposal, stating that parliament had operated in this way until now.
The Democratic Party of Serbia and the New Serbia have proposed that
parliament adopt a text describing the decision to dispatch an EU
mission to Kosovo as "illegal" and "the crudest violation" of Resolution
1244, the UN Charter and the Constitution of Serbia.
The text proposes that the parliament should order the government "to
sign neither the interim political agreement on cooperation between the
EU and its members nor the agreement on stabilization and association."
According to the text, the two agreements should not be signed until the
EU completely removes the reasons why the government was ordered not to
sign the said documents.
Dulić said it was not necessary for parliament to ratify the political
agreement with the EU, and that ratification was needed for the
Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA).
Serbian News Network - SNN
[email protected]
http://www.antic.org/
