Serbian Anti-Corruption Agency blocked for the lack of members
The work of the Serbian Anti-Corruption Agency has been blocked since the mandates of seven out of nine members expired, disabling this body to adopt reports on financing the political parties and campaigns.
The Anti-Corruption Agency adopts the reports on financing political parties, but also checks how much the presidential candidates in Serbia spent on pre-election campaign. Since the mandate of another four members of the Board expired in the end of April leaving the Board with only two members, two important reports will have to wait.
Namely, all decisions of the Board of the Agency must be made by at least five votes in favor. Since only two members of the Board have the mandate to continue working, the work of the Agency has been blocked.
The remaining two members in the Agency’s Board are appointed based on the Government’s proposal. The Acting Director of the Agency can make decisions, but only in first degree rulings.
According to the Law on Anti-Corruption Agency, three members of the Board are elected based on the proposal of the Assembly, the Government, and the President of the Republic.
Other six members of the Board are elected by the Assembly based on the proposals of independent bodies and professional associations.
However, despite the fact that the independent bodies and professional associations have proposed their candidates, the Assembly did not vote on new candidates. For instance, two years ago, the Ombudsman and the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance recommended Vida Petrovic Skero for a member of the Board of the Agency.
The Assembly has not put this proposal on voting for two years, but did elect the candidate of the Administrative Board of the Assembly, Danica Marinkovic, only two days after she had been recommended for the position.
The Journalist Associations, Supreme Court of Cassation, and President of the Republic also recommended their candidates, but the Assembly has not put their election on voting.
Serbian political parties have already submitted their annual financial reports, and all political subjects that had candidates in the presidential election held on 2 April are required to submit a report on the costs of the election campaign until 20 May.
Data from submitted reports will be checked by professional services of the Agency, but their findings will have to wait to be adopted by the Board of the Agency in the form of a report.
Jelena Jankovic