Some opposition representatives in the Belgrade City Council have filed complaints today, about the City Council’s last session at which Aleksandar Šapić was elected mayor.
Opposition councillors from the Freedom and Justice Party, Democratic Party, and People’s Party claim that there was no sufficient quorum in the session and that all decisions made were invalid, thus including Sapic’s appointment as mayor.
At the constituent session of the Belgrade City Assembly held on June 11, a total of nine councillors resigned, seven from the SNS party, one from the SPS party and one from the United Councilors group.
Meanwhile, at the June 20 meeting, when Aleksandar Šapić’s nomination for the Belgrade mayor was voted on, six more councillors resigned, including former deputy mayor Goran Vesić. That would be a total of 10 councillors from the SNS and SPS parties, two from the Moramo and Zavetnik coalitions, and one from the United Councillors. Thus, out of a total of 110 councillors, 15 have resigned and should have been replaced before the vote took place.
The opposition claims that at the next session on June 20, where Šapić was elected mayor, there was no quorum because the mandates of the new councillors had not been verified.
That is, in order for the session to begin, there has to be a quorum, i.e. a majority of 56 councillors. The opposition, which has a total of 53 councillors, decided to leave the Assembly hall, with the exception of four councillors from the NADA coalition led by DSS leader Milos Jovanovic, who remained in their seats.
The opposition cites the Law on Local Elections, which says in Article 72 that the votes of those councillors whose mandates have not been verified cannot be counted as quorum, and that is exactly what happened. That is why the councillors from the Freedom and Justice Party, Democratic Party, and People’s Party decided to file charges in court.
(Nova, 22.06.2022)
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