The referendum shall be considered as successful if the majority of voters vote positively, the Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Marija Obradović, has said today on the occasion of the new Bill on Referendum and People’s Initiative.
Stating that a lot of dust has been kicked up on the topic of what the ruling coalition wants to achieve by abolishing the census, Obradović has recalled that the Bill on Referendum and People’s Initiative should have been harmonized much earlier, more precisely by 2009.
“It would be inappropriate to vote on the amendments to the Constitution that we expect in the field of judiciary in a referendum, i.e. according to the Bill on Referendum which is not in accordance with the Constitution itself, which is indeed the main grounds for amending the law,” Obradović has told Tanjug.
She has rejected speculations which appeared in the public alleging that the success of the referendum will no longer require more than half of the registered voters, and which claim that the government wants to abuse the referendum and “push through” topics such as the status of Kosovo and Metohija and the “Jadar” project. According to her, the topic is exclusively the confirmation of constitutional amendments in the field of judiciary.
Obradović has expressed her expectation that the Bill will be presented to the MPs by the end of November, as well as that a referendum on amending the Constitution in the field of judiciary would be held after the adoption of the constitutional amendments.
“I hope that we will be able to confirm that through the referendum in January, and after that the Parliament should uphold the decision, which was voted in the referendum, in February,” Obradović has said.
As for the changes, Obradović has said that different types of referendums have been defined now which have not been defined previously, according to the territory where a referendum takes place, and whether it is held on a national, provincial or local level.
“We have also changed the deadlines for collecting signatures. The deadline used to be seven days, and now it has been extended to 90 days. The signatures can also be collected electronically. When collecting signatures for the people’s initiative, you no longer have the obligation to inform the Ministry of Interior about it,” Obradović has said.
According to her, all stages of the referendum have now been defined, including the preparatory one, as well as the actions of the competent assemblies.
She has added that there is a difference whether such initiative is an initiative of MPs, councilors or voters.
“We have well defined the duration of the referendum campaign, the way of financing the referendum campaign, and all those things that were previously unclear, and the Venice Commission helped us significantly in that,” Obradović has said.
Obradović has concluded that Serbia has not had a better law for a long time, and that it can be proud of in the region, but also in the world.
Source: TANJUG
Video gallery – source: Tanjug
Statement of Minister Marija Obradović – Bill on Referendum and People’s Initiative passed in 1994
Statement of Minister Marija Obradović – We have defined different types of referendum
Statement of Minister Marija Obradović – We have not had a better law for a long time
Statement of Minister Marija Obradović – We are harmonizing the Constitution and the Bill on Referendum
Statement of Minister Marija Obradović – The topic is exclusively the confirmation of constitutional amendments adopted in the field of judiciary