Opposition Criticizes Ruling Party MP as Sponsor of Amendments to Election Law

Miroslav Petrasinovic (BETAPHOTO/MILAN OBRADOVIC)

During a May 5 session of the Serbian Parliament’s Committee on the Judiciary, Public Administration and Local Self-Government, opposition MPs were critical of the fact that it was the ruling party’s lawmaker, Miroslav Petrasinovic of the Serbian Progressive Part, who sponsored amendments to four election laws.

Drafts of four election laws, based on recommendations by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), have been published on the Parliament’s website. The drafts are related to the laws on the election of members of parliament, the election of the president of the Republic, local elections, and the Constitutional Court. The formal sponsor of the new legislation is Petrasinovic, the ruling party’s MP.

Petrasinovic said on May 5 that every change was in line with ODIHR recommendations, dismissing the opposition’s claim that the authorities planned to “degrade electoral conditions.” He also said that key proposals were to increase the professional capacity of members of polling boards and shorten the deadlines for the Constitutional Court to decide on cases related to election results.

MP of the Party of Democratic Action of Sandzak Ahmedin Skrijelj said that procedures had been violated during the procedure for proposing the new election legislation, warning at the fact that the opposition had not been included in the process. MP Verica Milanovic of the Serbia Centre said the proposed amendments would not improve the electoral process in Serbia, but rather make certain irregularities legal.

Marko Dimic of the Freedom and Justice Party had said earlier that government representatives were only simulating compliance with ODIHR recommendations, while obstructing the revision of the voter register and making sure that those recommendations were never fully implemented.