Chairman of the Committee for International Relations and Emigrants Dusko Stjepović (Democrats), postponed yesterday's session of that parliamentary working body, where it was supposed to decide on the Government's proposal to Nebojsa Djokovic i Bernard Čobaj be ambassadors in Belgrade and Pristina, even though there was a quorum to hold the session.
Stjepović announced at the session that he was doing this because the missing board member from the ruling majority was not elected, and "so that it would not happen that a quorum would be denied due to political calculations". The board has 12 out of 13 members, and a quorum requires at least seven of them at the session.
One seat in that body has been vacant since July, when its previous member was from the New Serbian Democracy (NSD). Slaven Radunović appointed Minister of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property. Despite this, since then, three sessions of the board have been held with a "truncated" composition (September 4, October 15 and November 11), so it is unclear what was the obstacle to holding yesterday's as well. Also, some other parliamentary bodies function even though they are incomplete.
When asked by "Vijesti" why those sessions were not canceled, Stjepović did not answer directly. He said that the circumstances were different and that yesterday's session was the first, after the session of the Administrative Committee held on November 19, at which the proposal for the election of one member of the committee headed by him was determined, which was sent to the Assembly, and that previously they worked "in a reduced composition ".
A member of the NSD was proposed as a member of the committee Bojana Pican.
As he stated, the plenary session has been going on for several days, at which the Assembly "could and had to make, that is, confirm" the decision on the election of one committee member from the parliamentary majority, thus completing the composition of that body.
"I scheduled the session in accordance with the earlier practice and the mentioned need. However, as that did not happen, as the committee was not completed, and bearing in mind the information before the session that this session would be entered and then left, that is, a quorum would be given for something and not for something, my sole decision was to I do not allow certain political calculations to be made over my back, as the chairman of the board", said Stjepović, saying that he will schedule a continuation as soon as the board is in full composition.
He added that since he has been at the head of the committee, "no more than 24 hours could have passed from receiving the request from the president (about candidates for ambassadors) to convening the session", and that he tried not to let more than seven days pass when setting the day for the meeting.
Stjepović, however, did not answer the questions of "Vijesta" about what kind of "calculations" were involved and in what way they would "break over his back", and whether he, as the chairman of the board, should be guided by whether there is a quorum or not for holding sessions, and not whether there will be "calculations".
Asked whether situations where MPs leave and enter sessions have happened before, as well as what guarantees that the quorum will not be denied even when a missing member is elected, Stjepović said that, in a situation where the committee is not complete and the candidates are not get the opinion of that body, he can ask the question - why didn't he wait for its completion.
"In the case of a completed committee, the members of the committee assume full responsibility," claimed the Democrat representative.
According to the Constitution, the president appoints and dismisses ambassadors at the proposal of the Government and with the opinion of the board, which is not binding.
Montenegro has been without an ambassador in Serbia since February 2021, when he was the then president Milo Djukanovic issued decrees on the recall of several diplomats, among whom was the previous ambassador in Belgrade Tarzan Milosevic.
Nebojsa Đoković is a candidate for ambassador from the NSD party quota. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Airport of Montenegro, and he also worked as an economic advisor to the Association of Banks of Montenegro.
Bernard Čobaj was chargé d'affaires at the embassy in Pristina for more than a year.
According to the Law on Foreign Affairs, politically appointed ambassadors can make up a maximum of 30 percent of the heads of diplomatic and consular missions.
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