12 October, 2006 - (Blic - 12/10/06; AP, Beta, B92, OneWorld Southeast Europe - 11/10/06; Beta - 10/10/06; Blic, RFE/RL, Serbian Government - 09/10/06; Blic - 06/10/06; B92 - 05/10/06)

- The speaker of the assembly in the province of Vojvodina has become the latest senior Serbian official to call for a boycott of a referendum on the country's new constitution, scheduled for later this month.

Bojan Kostres, a member of the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina (LSV), said on Wednesday (October 11th) that the draft constitution does not stipulate enough autonomy for the province, often referred to as "Serbia's breadbasket".

He also objected to the document's having been adopted without the Vojvodina assembly members being given a chance to state their views on it.

"Although I asked Prime Minister [Vojislav] Kostunica for the adoption of the constitution to be postponed by a month, for a public debate to be launched, to enable the Vojvodina assembly to declare a stand about the draft constitution, this did not take place," the Serbian news agency Beta quoted Kostres as saying. “Bearing this in mind, I have the right, as speaker of the Vojvodina assembly, to declare my stand.”

The draft constitution was adopted by parliament on September 30th, and a referendum on it is due to take place on October 28th and 29th.

A growing number of politicians and activists have criticized the hasty drafting of the constitution and the lack of public discussion. According to LDP leader and former Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Cedomir Jovanovic, the proposed constitution is "a big step backwards and a very poor message, which says that we are a society that is incapable of defining our vision".

The LDP, the LSV and the Citizens' Alliance of Serbia reportedly have agreed on joint participation in Serbia's upcoming parliamentary elections, and on boycotting the referendum.

Earlier this month, Deputy Prime Minister Ivana Dulic-Markovic, a member of the G17 Plus party, also called for a boycott of the constitutional referendum, citing the absence of a public debate prior to the adoption of the document, the unsatisfactory level of autonomy granted to Vojvodina and the lack of provisions to ensure the automatic adoption of EU legislation.

However, the leader of G17, Finance Minister Mlađan Dinkic, has said the party would urge voters to support the proposed constitution.

The document, adopted as the UN-led process of determining Kosovo's status enters its final stages, includes text describing Kosovo as an integral part of Serbia's territory.

Only 97,000 voters in Kosovo, including a "certain number" of representatives of the province's ethnic Albanian majority, will be able to vote on the constitution, the daily Blic reported on Thursday. Kosovo Albanians, who account for 90% of the province's population of about 2 million people and seek full independence from Belgrade, have boycotted elections in Serbia since 1990.

Under Serbia's referendum law, the constitution must be supported by more than half of the eligible voters, or about 3,270,000 people, to take effect. Otherwise, Serbia will either have to wait at least six more months to call a new referendum, or must call constitutional assembly elections.

A report by the OneWorld Southeast Europe foundation on Wednesday cited a joint statement by more than 20 NGOs in Serbia, asking the public to reconsider their participation in the vote later this month.