“The Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government recognizes the importance of the work of secretaries of assemblies, because we see in them the right interlocutors for topics which primarily concern the preservation of legality and the improvement of the efficiency of the work of the assemblies themselves, on which the functioning of the Local Self-government Units as a whole rests,” the Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Aleksandar Martinović, PhD, has said at today’s Second Meeting of the Network of Secretaries of the Assemblies of Towns, Municipalities and Urban Municipalities.
According to him, the Ministry’s cooperation with the said Network is important for the improvement of mutual communication, but also for the exchange of experiences, knowledge, good practice and the possibility of joint consideration and improvement of the legislative framework in this area.
Emphasizing that the secretaries of the assemblies are expected to have the highest level of expertise, responsibility and promptness, the minister has also pointed to the importance of their communication with the relevant ministries on all issues concerning the implementation of regulations, on the basis of which the assemblies of Local Self-government Units make decisions within their jurisdiction. According to him, such communication would ensure the uniform application of the regulations, and would also be used to suggest to the competent authorities if the regulations need to be amended.
“The Ministry shall, as before, provide support in improving and preserving the legality of the work of local assemblies, which is our joint task and goal,” Martinović has pointed out. He added that strengthening the capacities of local self-governments and support in the implementation of local projects will be some of the priorities of MDULS in this mandate, and that he will personally take it upon himself to visit as many towns and municipalities as possible and talk with the representatives of local self-governments about the problems they face.
Nikola Banjac, PhD, the Secretary General of the Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Jelena Marinković Radomirović, President of the City Assembly of Novi Sad, Richard Kohli, Director of the Swiss Cooperation Office in Serbia, Yakup Beris, UNDP Resident Representative in the Republic of Serbia, and Nikola Tarbuk, Secretary General of SCTM, have also made their addresses at the ceremonial opening of the meeting.
The Second Meeting of the Network of Secretaries of the Assemblies of Towns, Municipalities and Urban Municipalities is organized by SCTM, with the support of the Swiss Cooperation Office and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), at the premises of the Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. At the three-day meeting, the role and importance of the institution of the local Ombudsman shall be discussed, as well as the new Law on Local Elections, while the Code of Ethics for Local Self-Government Officials shall be presented.
Photo gallery – source: UNDP
