Serbia’s Studentska Lista (Student List – Students Win) has published an account of its consultations with representatives of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and minority parties, outlining its demands and positions ahead of the formation of the new parliament.
The meeting took place at the National Assembly and was attended by Studentska Lista representatives Mario Reljanović and Aleksandar Čupić, SNS representatives Ana Brnabić and Milenko Jovanov, National Assembly Secretary-General Srđan Smiljanić, and representatives of minority parties.
In its report, Studentska Lista said it had called for the verification of parliamentary mandates to be completed as quickly and efficiently as possible, with the constituent session resuming immediately after the process is finished.
The student-backed group also stressed that the Speaker of Parliament and the number and names of deputy speakers would be determined through a majority vote. It said decisions on whether to allocate some deputy speaker positions to other parliamentary groups were still under discussion within its own parliamentary group.
According to the report, all participating lists agreed that parliamentary voting should be conducted publicly.
Studentska Lista also proposed that parliamentary committees reflect the proportional strength of parliamentary groups, while committee chairpersons would be elected by a majority vote within each individual committee.
Regarding Serbia’s parliamentary delegations to international institutions, the group said appointments should follow proposals from the parliamentary speaker, after consultations with parliamentary group leaders, in accordance with Article 26, Paragraph 2 of the Rules of Procedure.
The student representatives also requested that their parliamentary group be seated to the right of the presiding officer in the Assembly chamber.
One of their other demands concerned transparency over the outgoing parliamentary leadership. Studentska Lista requested copies of the official handover records documenting the transfer of responsibilities from the previous Speaker of Parliament and Secretary-General.
The group said it wanted a clear picture of the condition in which the National Assembly had been left, outstanding issues and the extent of any potential responsibility of the previous leadership. According to the report, representatives of the other parliamentary groups and the Secretary-General agreed with the request.
The Secretary-General asked Studentska Lista to submit by Monday the proposed name for Speaker of Parliament, the total number of deputy speakers, its candidates for those positions and the names of its proposed members for the mandate verification commission.
Studentska Lista also requested permission for a student delegation to attend the constituent parliamentary session from the public gallery on November 17, marking International Students’ Day.
The publication of the report comes as Serbia’s newly elected parliament prepares to begin its work following the recent electoral victory of the student-backed political movement, which has entered the Assembly as a major parliamentary force.
