The Feudal/Party System at the National Level: The Case of the Ministry of Finance and. Serbia is in the bottom half of the 20 former socialist countries, holding 13th place on the list. Recent events related to the preparation and content of the new Constitution of Serbia, as well as the relevant approval process, confirm our initial hypothesis of 'state capture', i.e.
Article 102 states that “the Member of Parliament is free (…) to make his mandate irrevocably available to the party on whose list he has been elected as Member of Parliament”.19 In addition, the immunity rights of Members of Parliament have been extended.
The Model of State Capture in Serbia, and its Mechanisms
The new Constitution will not help to stop 'state capture' or deal with harmful consequences; nor will it make the political leadership accountable to the public. The (black) links that go from the government to the parties show that the position of the governing parties in the described context does have a feedback effect with regard to parties, because it makes their decision-making more centralized and oligarchic, and in practice located, in the hands of the party's president. Because the party leader/feudal lord has Parliamentary MPs who give a majority of support to the government, corruption is in practice incorporated into the way the government actually functions.24 If a minister is fired for corruption, he will withdraw his MPs , and the government would lose its parliamentary majority and thus fall.
Parties in the ruling coalition have the exclusive right to make appointments in the state administration, public enterprises, utilities, institutes, agencies, foundations, health, social and cultural centers, colleges, veterinary clinics, schools, theaters, hospitals, libraries, monuments and memorial park maintenance services - all of which belong to the public and are supported via the public budget.
How the Government Functions as a Confederation of Party “Fiefdoms“
The directors of the Centers (experts and non-party people) were fired and replaced with less qualified people from the DPS.38 Public companies established by the Ministry - such as the very profitable Text Book Publishing Company - were given to the DPS. The same party (DPS) got the position of president of the Commission for Education in Parliament. All other public companies – around 500 – are in the hands of the ruling coalitions at the local level (see box below44).
This is the case with electricity prices, which are lower than in the rest of the region. Since public companies are the bastion of political power of the ruling parties, they are used in various ways. Out of 42 elected members of the Assembly, 24 are employed in public enterprises in the position of director or in a professional position.
During the first 13 months of the Radicals' rule, 965 people from their party were employed in public companies and utilities (while the DP employed 654 people during the 8 years of rule). Radicals and their coalition partners (DPS and SPS), who 'divided' public companies, neglected the previous practice: that the president d. The dramatic lowering of the qualifications of appointees in local administration and companies has led to huge losses that must be covered by the city budget (that is, money obtained from taxpayers).
This means that more than half of the city budget is used to support or strengthen public companies. The salaries of directors of listed companies have increased so much that 44 directors of the listed companies/institutions (as well as their advisors and deputies) were on the list of millionaires of Novi Sad. The director of the Public Transport Company, who has had the largest deficit, has the largest salary.
The second on this list is the director of the Institute for Construction in Novi Sad.
Degradation of the Serbian Parliament and the Multiple Functions of MPs 52
This practice had made it possible to establish a certain elementary internal control - now, however, both the chairman of a board and the chairmen of the monitoring bodies are from the same party. All directors carrying the highest salaries are senior officials of the SRP and some of them are also members of the national parliament. This decision limited the party's power, although it opened up the possibility of abuse of mandates (eg with people who "sell mandates" – where mandates were bought when needed, either to keep the government's majority or by the opposition to try to overthrow the government).
The "Method" was implemented via the Board of Parliament, which consists of representatives of ruling parties.55. But instead of adopting the proposed reforms to the electoral law, the new constitution - one created by agreement between the four leaders of the parties - clearly states that the mandates belong to the parties. And the ratification of the new constitution made it more difficult to remove corrupt mechanisms from the parliament.
Although the main bribery mechanism lies in an MP's ability to acquire offices: MPs can simultaneously be mayor of cities (or municipalities), chairman of the regional government56, or member of local government (“council”). Another reason for function accumulation in few hands arises solely from the oligarchic structure of the parties: it is easier to control a small number of people than a larger group with a spread of functions. Freed from the constraints of the Conflict of Interest Act (something their parties oversee) and enjoying broadly defined immunity, such MPs can engage in 'state capture' in the literal sense – such as 'seizing' laws from the corporate advantage through influential political ties with parliament.
However, if public officials have many public roles, they cannot comply with the real requirements of any of the roles - harming the public interest. Members of the board have other jobs in the private and public sectors and they make decisions ad hoc (ie they only meet from time to time, the law does not say how often the board must meet and according to which procedures, etc.) How they are elected also leads to questions, because the Supreme Court elects 3 members, the Bar Association 1 and the National Parliament 5, on the proposal of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
Regulatory Institutions, Laws and Anti-corruption Policies in Serbia: An Overview with Special
Among the responsibilities of this Agency will be control of the financing of political parties. I will now give a brief overview of some of the anti-corruption institutions and laws that do exist, paying special attention to the Political Party Financing Act because of its key role in dealing with the phenomenon of state capture and the links between political party leaderships and the economic elite. An improvement was made in the state administration after the adoption of the State Administration Act (which came into force in July 2006).
Contrary to the expressed intentions of the law, the government began to organize an almost complete politicization of staffing from the top to the lowest positions in the administration. The most scandalous example of "manipulation" of the work of such an institution concerns the Republic Agency for Broadcasting (RRA) and was the "neutral" distribution of national frequencies to TV and radio stations. Due to the dominance of monopolies in Serbia (it received the lowest score for competition policy – 1)61, it was said that Serbia does not have a competition policy.
The actual 'shop' will simply be the discretionary judgment of the mayor, or, for larger investments, the Minister of Economic Affairs. The One Stop Shop can be at the service of an investor, but he can also be deprived of this opportunity, depending on the discretionary decision of the mayor or minister, and regardless of what the law says. In practice, however, the law is not enforced and the names of donors are not disclosed, even though the law requires any donation above $100 to be reported along with the donor's name.
The main problem with the existing Act is that it does not provide for the establishment of a separate institution to monitor the funding of parties, nor a separate body charged with supervision. The government's delay in forming a specialized anti-corruption agency that will effectively control party funding (together with an Institution for State Auditing) means that the upcoming elections can only take place under the existing - flawed - control mechanisms64.
A Survey of Public Opinion about Corruption and State Capture
The aim will be to raise awareness of ethical standards and increase the effectiveness of the public sector. It was Zoran Zivkovic, the vice president of the Democratic Party and Djindjic's closest associate. Extreme appointment manipulation did not yet exist as an important link for the appropriation of the public interest.
Former directors, experts and their managers, once part of the nomenclature, are today's 'tycoons'. 20] The mandate of the SHKB Governor does not coincide with elections or changes in the Assembly or the Government. 22] In a recent interview, the former deputy head of the Serbian government, Miroljub Labus, said that “the tycoons cooperate perfectly with all parties – from the radicals to the Democratic Party of Serbia; have become part of the system".
The Minister of Finance found himself in a similar situation when the case of the National Savings Banks was reopened to the public. 26] Only 3 parties (there are approximately 39 active parties and a total of over 400 registered parties) submitted their full annual financial and activity report to the Assembly Finance Board on time. Two people were expelled from Parliament overnight for saying they would not vote in favor of the budget.
Goati shows the change in practices within the parties' control over mandates in the Serbian Parliament during the 15-year span of the multi-party system. 54] Two G17+ MPs said they would not vote on the 2006 state budget shortly before the vote was taken in Parliament. 55] See more about the Administrative Board's misdeeds and the illegal use of "empty resignations" in Goati, op.
I will leave it to the reader to guess the name of the businessman who was bothered by the decision of the Prosecutor.
