While the new parliament in Serbia was expected to take office and the government to be formed, the document signed by the parliamentary candidates of the Student List, which won the elections with a majority, came to the public agenda.
For the first time in the country, a citizens' initiative supported by a student movement rather than a political party is preparing to form a government, raising the question of how the relationship between MPs and the student councils that nominate them will be shaped.
The commitment letter published by the student movement Studenti u Blokadi (Students in the Blockade) included various conditions, from the candidates' past political affiliations to the rules they will comply with during their term of office.
The parliamentary candidates of the Student List declared in the document they signed that they did not obtain illegal financial benefits by collaborating with the former ruling parties.
The candidates also pledged that they would not use their public offices to gain illegal benefits for themselves or their families.
The document also included statements that the candidates did not have a definitive prison sentence of more than one year, that they were not convicted of crimes that were subject to a prison sentence of more than three years and were investigated ex officio, and that there was no court of honor decision against them.
The commitment letter also listed the political parties that the candidates had to declare that they were not members of in the past.
These included political formations such as the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) of former President Aleksandar Vučić, the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), the Serbian Radical Party and the Serbian List.
Candidates declared that they had not been members of any of the parties mentioned in the document.
He also stated that they did not hold parliamentary, ministerial or state secretariat positions on behalf of the current ruling coalition.
The document discussed not only relations with the former government, but also senior positions in the opposition parties represented in the parliament.
Candidates also undertake that they have not held high-level positions such as chairman, deputy chairman, board member or local organization chairman in any parliamentary opposition party in the past.
One of the most striking provisions of the document was that MPs should not change their political allegiance after being elected.
The candidates agreed that if they are elected as MPs, they will remain in the political entity that nominated them until the end of their terms of office and will not move to another parliamentary group.
The commitment also stated that the MPs would not vote for proposals that contradict the program of the Student List.
In this context, the candidates stated that they will work to fulfill the demands of the student movement and to realize the goals set in the Social Agreement and the Minimum Program prepared by the movement.
The most controversial part of the pledge was the article stipulating that if the candidates did not fulfill their promises, they would be deemed to have resigned from their seats in parliament.
The document stated that the candidates will be deemed to have resigned if their statements about their past are found to be untrue, if they fail to fulfill their responsibilities, or if they move away from the political goals of the student movement.
The article in question states that the candidate will be deemed to have submitted his resignation on the day any of these situations are detected.
However, it is legally debatable whether this provision will automatically terminate his duty as a member of parliament.
Regulations regarding the parliamentary position in Serbia have raised questions regarding the legal validity of the commitment signed by the candidates.
Article 102 of the Serbian Constitution contains a provision that allows MPs to irrevocably cede their duties to the political party to which they are nominated, under the conditions specified in the law.
However, according to Article 132 of the Parliamentary Election Law, the resignation must be in writing, the signature must be duly approved and must be presented to the Parliament in person by the deputy. In order for the resignation to be valid, it is also required that the signature be certified after the approval of the parliamentary duty.
For this reason, it remains unclear whether the letter of commitment signed by the Student List candidates before the election can be considered a resignation document that ends their duty as a member of parliament.
After the Student List won the majority in the parliament, the relations of the MPs with the university student councils that nominated them began to be discussed.
The student movement's requirement of adherence to the political program raised the question to what extent elected MPs could act independently in their decisions in parliament.
While the document revealed that the student movement aimed to preserve its political integrity after the election, it caused discussions about how to determine the boundaries between the individual will of the MPs and the decisions of the movement that nominated them.
It is expected that a new government will be formed in Serbia after the Student List wins the elections with a majority in the parliament.
The fact that a citizens' initiative supported by a student movement rather than a political party is preparing to form a government indicates a new era in the country's political history.
However, the letter of undertaking debate that arose before the new parliament took office also raised questions about what kind of management model the student movement would adopt in power.
In particular, the MPs' commitment to the program of the movement, the integrity of the Parliamentary group and the legal validity of the resignation provisions are among the prominent discussion topics of the new period.
