University Professor: Vote Against Constitutional Change in Referendum

Zoran R. Tomic ( BETAPHOTO/File)

A professor at Belgrade's School of Law, Zoran R. Tomic, said on Dec. 20 that Serbian citizens should take part in a new referendum on amendments to the Constitution of Serbia, and say "no."

Tomic said to BETA that "a majority no" would not mean that the Serbs were against an independent, reformed judiciary, but rather that "the government has finally lost the last modicum of trust by the people. The people need to use their 'no' in the referendum to tell the authorities that they have passed their shelf life. Also, that they don't want the current government to reform the judiciary, or take them to the European Union (EU)," Tomic underlined.

Even if the partial change to the Constitution was better than other solutions of the kind, "it is clearly part of a hectic, nervous and manipulative political package, designed to deceive the people," the professor has warned.

Tomic has underlined that a hypothetical success of the constitutional referendum would be "the wind beneath the wings" of the longstanding yet unsuccessful ruling team. "I believe that it is necessary and wise to vote in the referendum, and to vote 'no', Professor Tomic said.