Parliament continues debate on government, ministries

BELGRADE – Serbian MPs met on Saturday to continue a debate on the bill on ministries and draft amendments to the Law on Government.

The MPs put forward 60 amendments to the bill on ministries and two amendments to the draft amendments to the Law on Government.

The parliament should vote and adopt the bills following the discussion so that members of the new Serbian government could be elected tomorrow.

The Serbian parliament’s Committee on Judiciary yesterday accepted 12 amendments to the proposed new legislation on ministries put forward by the ruling coalition but no amendments to the amendments of the Law on Government.
Under the bill on ministries, the new government is to have 16 ministries, two fewer than the previous one, and five offices and two directorates, on digital agenda and gender equality, are to be closed down.

The powers and responsibilities of the Office for Sustainable Development of Underdeveloped Areas are to be taken over by the Ministry of Economy, which is also to take over the work of the office for quick response.

The Justice Ministry is to take on the jurisdiction of the Office of the National Council for Cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-
Government is to acquire the role of the Directorate for Digital Agenda.

The Foreign Ministry is to handle the job of the Office for Cooperation with the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region, and the newly formed Republic Secretariat for Public Policy to take over the responsibilities of the Office of Regulatory Reform and Regulatory Impact Assessment.

The accepted amendments include a proposal put forward by 130...