The First (Constituting) Sitting of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, convened by the National Assembly Speaker of the previous convocation, Oliver Dulic, began on 1 June 2008 at 10.35 a.m. in the Greater Chamber of the National Assembly Building.

The Sitting was chaired by the oldest Deputy, Dr Jovan Krkobabic, assisted by the youngest Deputies from the four electoral lists which won the highest number of Deputy seats, Jadranka Jovisic, from the electoral list For European Serbia-Boris Tadic, Jelena Budimirovic from the Serbian Radical Party-Dr Vojislav Seselj electoral list, Alexandra Ilic from the Democratic Party of Serbia-New Serbia-Vojislav Kostunica electoral list, Djordje Milicevic from the Socialist Party of Serbia-Party of United Pensioners-United Serbia electoral list, as well as the Secretary of the National Assembly, Tamara Stojcevic.

The National Assembly set the following agenda for the sitting:

1. Verification of Deputies’ mandates,

2. Election of the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia,

3. Election of Deputy Speakers of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia,

4. Election of members of working bodies of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia,

5. Appointment of the Secretary of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia

For the purpose of verification of the Deputies’ mandates, the National Assembly formed a Commission charged with tallying Certificates of Election as Deputy and the Report of the Republic Electoral Commission on the conducted elections, comprising: Bosko Ristic, from the electoral list For European Serbia-Boris Tadic, Vjerica Radeta form the SRP-Dr Vojislav Seselj electoral list, and Branislav Nedimovic from the DPS-NS-Vojislav Kostunica electoral list.

The Commission verified that the Certificates of Election of all 250 Deputies are in agreement with the certificates issued by the Republic Electoral Commission and listed in Report it submitted to the National Assembly.

Based on the Report of the Republic Electoral Committee, the National Assembly verified the mandates of all Deputies of the new convocation, after which the chairman, Jovan Krkobabic called a break in the National Assembly’s proceedings.

The Deputies will be duly notified of the continuation of work.

Continuation of the First (Constituting) Sitting of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia

The First (Constituting) Sitting of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, which begun on 11 June, was continued on 24 June, starting at 4 p.m. The sitting was chaired by the oldest Deputy, Dr Jovan Krkobabic.

On its second day of work, the Deputies voiced several objections concerning the manner of convocation of the sitting and violations of the Rules of Procedure in connection with it.

Chairman Krkobabic informed the attending Deputies that the First Sitting of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia will be continued on Wednesday, 25 June, starting at 10 a.m., adding that consultations of deputy groups’ representatives will be conducted before it.

Election of the National Assembly Speaker

In the continuation of the First (Constituting) Sitting of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, on 25 June, Chairman Dr Jovan Krkobabic informed the deputies that the following Deputy Groups have been formed at the National Assembly, under article 23 of the Rules of Procedure:

1. Minority Deputy Group, comprising deputies form the Hungarian Coalition - Istvan Pastor, Bosniak List for European Serbia - Dr Sulejman Ugljanin and Albanian Coalition from Presevo Valley electoral lists. Balint Pastor is the president of the Deputy Group, and Bajram Omeragic is his deputy;

2. Serbian Radical Party Deputy Group, with Tomislav Nikolic as president and Dragan Todorovic as deputy president;

3. Democratic Party of Serbia - New Serbia - Vojislav Kostunica Deputy Group, with Milos Aligrudic as president, and Miroslav Markicevic as deputy;

4. Socialist Party of Serbia – Party of United Pensioners of Serbia – United Serbia Coalition Deputy Group, with Ivica Dacic as president and Momo Colakovic as his deputy;

5. Liberal Democratic Party Deputy Group, with Cedomir Jovanovic as president and Nenad Milic as deputy.

Afterwards, a discussion was opened on the proposal for the election of the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, submitted by the SPS – PUPS – US Coalition Deputy Group. The Deputy Group President, Ivica Dacic called upon the deputies to elect Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic as Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, explaining that she will contribute to its successful and efficient work in the upcoming mandate period. Dacic stressed that professor Djukic-Dejanovic, with her expert qualifications and political experience meets all requirements for the function, adding that she will ensure a fair political atmosphere among the various parties, keeping the joint interest of the country and the people in mind.

After several hours’ consideration, the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia concluded the discussion on the proposal of the SPS – PUPS – US Coalition Deputy Group and established a list with the only candidate for National Assembly Speaker, Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic. Afterwards, the National Assembly decided to conduct the election of the Speaker by a public vote and asserted that Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic is elected Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, by 128 deputy votes.

The Speaker of the National Assembly, Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic thanked all the deputies for electing her stressing that her future work will be guided by the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia and National Assembly’s Rules of Procedure. She added that she will invest her whole experience into ensuring that in the upcoming period the National Assembly works more efficiently, in the spirit of tolerance and aiming to raise the parliament’s reputation in the society.

Speaker Djukic-Dejanovic set the continuation of the sitting for 26 June, starting at 12 p.m., to be preceded by consultations with Deputy Groups’ representatives.

Election of Deputy Speakers of the National Assembly

The National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia continued its First (Constituting) Sitting on 26 June, starting at 12 p.m. At the beginning of the sitting, the newly elected Speaker of the National Assembly, Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic informed the deputies that two more Deputy Groups had been constituted – For European Serbia and G17 Plus. Nada Kolundzija is to be the President of the Group for European Serbia, and Aleksandra Jerkov her deputy, while Suzana Grubjesic will head the G17 Deputy Group, and Vlajko Senic will be her deputy.

Moving onto the third item on the agenda, the Speaker of the Serbian National Assembly, Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic, reminded all present that under article 15 of the Rules of Procedure, the National Assembly has the maximum of six Deputy Speakers, adding that the number is determined by a special decision, at the Speaker’s request, upon each new constitution of the Assembly. Having completed the consultations with the Heads of the Deputy Groups at the National Assembly, Speaker Djukic-Dejanovic proposed that the National Assembly have six Deputy Speakers in this convocation, too.

The National Assembly adopted the proposal for determining the number of National Assembly Deputy Speakers in this convocation without discussion and set a list of candidates for the function. At the proposal of the Speaker of the National Assembly, the election was conducted by public vote – by show of hands for each candidate individually.

After the vote, the following have been elected Deputy Speakers of the Serbian National Assembly: Natasa Jovanovic and Bozidar Delic from the SRP Deputy Group, Nikola Novakovic from the G17 Plus Deputy Group, Radojko Obradovic from the DPS-NS-Vojislav Kostunica Deputy Group, Judita Popovic from the LDP Deputy Group and Gordana Comic from the Deputy Group For European Serbia.

Election of Members of Working Bodies and Appointment of the Secretary of the National Assembly

In the continuation of the First (Constituting) Sitting of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, on 27 June, the Proposal of the List for the Election of Members of Committees of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia was on the agenda. The Speaker of the National Assembly, Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic reminded all present that the National Assembly has 30 permanent committees and that the number of members of those committees is determined by the Rules of Procedure. Deputy Groups, as she stressed, propose committee members in proportion to the number of deputies they have at the National Assembly, keeping in mind that out of the total number of members of the Economic Reforms Committee, 12 are representatives of other committees. Thus, this list too was composed according to proposals of Deputy Groups at the National Assembly.

Speaker Djukic-Dejanovic also added that the Proposal of the List for the Election of Members of Committees of the National Assembly is decided upon wholly by public vote.

Afterwards, the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia elected the members of Assembly Committees by a majority of votes and without discussion, with an amendment and modification proposed by the SRP Deputy Group.

At the sitting, the National Assembly appointed lawyer Veljko Odalovic as Secretary of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia.

Having thus exhausted the agenda, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic concluded the First (Constituting) Sitting of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia.