Referendum on changes to the Constitution could take place in the fall

Photo: Tanjug/Zoran Zestic

Today, the National Assembly of Serbia will discuss the proposal to change the Constitution of Serbia, and President of Assembly Ivica Dacic assessed on Sunday that it is realistic for the current convocation of deputies to complete that work.

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"If what the president spoke about is realized - that parliamentary elections will be held together with presidential and city elections in Belgrade - then the referendum would have to be held before the dissolution of the assembly because this convocation must declare new constitutional changes. In that case, it is realistic that a referendum will be held in the fall," Dacic told Tanjug.

Speaking about today's session, Dacic said that the proposal to change the Constitution would be explained in the parliament by Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, and recalled that two-thirds of MPs must support the proposal in order for it to be accepted.

The president of the Assembly is sure that the deputies will accept the proposal in principle, while further work on amendments, he noted, is done by the Committee on Constitutional Issues in coordination with professionals in the field of justice and European institutions.

When the amendments are drafted, the Assembly, its president recalled, will vote about the proposal again and referendum will be held within 60 days.

Dacic explains that the Law on Referendum must be changed now, which should have been done 15 years ago, after the adoption of the current Constitution.

"We are not responsible for that, because it happened before 2012, so the Law on Referendum must be changed in order to hold a referendum to change the Constitution, and that will await us in the coming months," said Dacic.

According to the Constitution from the 1990s, it was necessary that half of the citizens turn out and vote in order for a referendum to succeed, while the current Constitution states that it is enough for the majority of those who turned out to vote, explained Dacic.

He once again underlined that these changes to the Constitution concern exclusively the judiciary, i.e., the manner of electing judges and prosecutors.

(Telegraf.rs)