Serbia Today, 97-05-22

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From: Yugoslavia <http://www.yugoslavia.com>

Serbia Today

CONTENTS

[01] HOW WILL DEPUTIES BE ELECTED

[02] STATEMENT BY THE DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER - MR. RATKO MARKOVIC BEFORE THE TALKS ABOUT THE LAW ON LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT

[03] NEGOTIATION BETWEEN THE SERBIAN GOVERNMENT AND THE REPUBLICAN UNION OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND SOCIAL WORKERS

[04] LAW ON PROPERTY TRANSFORMATION TO BE APPROVED IN MID-JUNE

[05] AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE SERBIAN MINISTRY OF CONSTRUCTION AND THE PALESTINIAN MINISTRY OF HOUSING SIGNED IN BELGRADE

[06] PRESS-CONFERENCE AT THE REPUBLICAN COMMISSARIAT FOR REFUGEES

[07] DEPUTY PREMIER OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA - MR. SVETOZAR KRSTIC RECEIVED THE AMBASSADOR OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC - H.E. IVAN BUSHNIAK

[01] HOW WILL DEPUTIES BE ELECTED

Tanjug, 1997-05-22

Announcing the Government proposal to modify the system used in the election of municipal deputies from the existing two-rounds majority formula to the proportional one, which is to be discussed today at the meeting that Prime Minister Mirko Marjanovic will have with the representatives of parliamentary parties, today's "Politika" (May 22nd) published an extensive commentary, stressing that the members of the municipal parliaments will be elected by the constituencies. Each constituency will have a minimum of three and a maximum of five deputies. Only electoral lists which have secured at least five per cent of the votes will be taking part in the distribution of mandates.

[02] STATEMENT BY THE DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER - MR. RATKO MARKOVIC BEFORE THE TALKS ABOUT THE LAW ON LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT

Tanjug, 1997-05-22

In an interview for Politika (May 22, 1997), Prof. Dr. Ratko Markovic - Deputy Prime Ministry of Serbia stated that he expects that today's talks with the leaders of the parliamentary parties will be dealing with the norms of the draft Law and not with high politics.

"I expect that the parties involved at the talks will be objective and not biased by their party stands. The Government is prepared to include in the Law all suggestions favoring the strengthening of local self-government, primarily those referring to the range of local activities. This requires a given competency in debating, to avoid confusing of state and local affairs, without qualifying our state structure as a centralized one because a certain range of state affairs has not been delegated to the local self- government, so that we may clarify the extent of state monitoring of local self-government and of its interventions aimed at protecting the rights granted to the citizens by the constitution. Furthermore, I expect that regarding the proposed electoral solutions, general interests will be endorsed, rather than narrow party objectives, because this is a specific matter requiring that concrete suggestions rather than abstract statements be made to enhance the draft document".

[03] NEGOTIATION BETWEEN THE SERBIAN GOVERNMENT AND THE REPUBLICAN UNION OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND SOCIAL WORKERS

Tanjug, 1997-05-22

Mr. Zvonimir Golubovic - Secretary of the Serbian Ministry of Public Health stated in an interview for TANJUG news agency (quoted by "Borba" and "Ekspres Politika" in their May 22nd editions) that the negotiations between the Serbian Government and the Public Health and Social Workers of the Republic of Serbia will resume on Friday - May 23rd.

Mr. Golubovic also indicated that during yesterday's talks the Government reaffirmed its previous proposal that all the employees working in the two sectors be paid the first and second part of their March wages, as well as the first half of the April salaries.

We have also proposed that in June, the second half of the April wages and the first share of the May be paid - specified Mr. Golubovic.

The Government believes that the payment of vacation subventions should follow the modalities and timing applied to other public services, and that the payment of lunch coupons be harmonized with the collective work contract.

According to Mr. Golubovic, this is the maximum offer the Serbian Government can make.

[04] LAW ON PROPERTY TRANSFORMATION TO BE APPROVED IN MID-JUNE

Tanjug, 1997-05-22

The formulation of the final version of the Law on Ownership transformation is almost finished. The parliament approval of this crucial economic law will probably take place in the second half of June - states a "Vecernje Novosti" article (May 22nd).

This is the planned deadline but it has been suggested that it be moved to autumn. The expert team of the Serbian Government indicated that the exact date for the launching of privatization will be made public within a couple of weeks.

The proposed postponement is due exclusively to the extensiveness of the preparations necessary: evaluation of company value, creation of an appropriate data-base, issuance of shareholders' booklets, expert staff training... It seems imprudent that such a complex and sensitive process be tackled during the summer - when many people involved are on vacation.

[05] AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE SERBIAN MINISTRY OF CONSTRUCTION AND THE PALESTINIAN MINISTRY OF HOUSING SIGNED IN BELGRADE

Tanjug, 1997-05-22

An agreement on cooperation in reconstruction and development projects in Palestinian territories has been signed yesterday by the Ministry of Construction of the Republic of Serbia and the Ministry of Housing of the PLO Palestinian National Government.

The document signed by Minister Prof. Dr. Branislav Ivkovic and his colleague Dr. Abdul Rahman Hammad, completes the three-day visit of the Palestinian delegation to our country. During the visit, the delegation of the Ministry of Housing of the PLO Palestinian National Government - headed by Dr. Hammad, had talks with Serbian Government officials and visited a number of local institutions and companies involved in planning, design and construction. During those contacts the potentials of the Serbian construction companies concerning housing, road-building, municipal infrastructure planning and construction have been illustrated, and preliminary accords on involvement in projects for the reconstruction and development of Palestinian territories have been made and included in the Agreement.

In order to monitor and realize the Agreement, a joint committee headed by ministers Ivkovic and Hammad has been formed with the task to concretize the cooperation in a number of projects concerning planning, design and construction.

[06] PRESS-CONFERENCE AT THE REPUBLICAN COMMISSARIAT FOR REFUGEES

Tanjug, 1997-05-22

Quoting data revealed yesterday at the press-conference held at the Serbian Commissariat for Refugees, "Ekspres Politika" (May 22nd) reveals that only 10 per cent of the refugees living in Serbia that are entitled to vote in the local elections in Bosnia have registered until now. The fear of the refugees that they might be forcibly deported to Bosnia and Herzegovina if they register seems to be one of the reasons for such poor response.

Commissariat officials - Ms. Bratislava Morina - also head of the Federal Committee for helping the refugees vote, and her deputies - Mr. Vladimir Cucic and Aleksandar Radovanovic, offered guarantees on behalf of the Federal Government that none of the refugees will be forced to return to Bosnia if they register, nor will they loose any of the rights they currently enjoy if they fail to register. However it has been stressed that the future of the republic of Srpska depends on the number of registered voters. It has also been underscored that the on-going registration is actually a mini-census of the refugees aged over 18 and that those that fail to register will loose the possibility of voting in future.

[07] DEPUTY PREMIER OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA - MR. SVETOZAR KRSTIC RECEIVED THE AMBASSADOR OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC - H.E. IVAN BUSHNIAK

Tanjug, 1997-05-22

Serbian Deputy Premier Svetozar Krstic and the Minister of Finances Dusan Vlatkovic talked yesterday with the Czech Ambassador to Yugoslavia - Mr. Ivan Bushniak.

Both sides confirmed the readiness to continue the economic cooperation between the two countries and exchanged opinions about the respective experiences and achievements in the reform process in the two countries.

They also concluded that the loan agreement between the "Skoda - Plzen" concern and the Serbian Power company regarding the continuation of the construction of the "Kolubara B" thermal power plant should be completed imminently.

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