The Coalition for the Free Access to Information calls on the Culture and Information Committee of the National Assembly to send a proposal for the appointment of the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection as soon as possible. According to Article 30 of the Law on the Free Access to Information of Public Importance, only this committee of the National Assembly has the authority to initiate the election proceedings. The current Commissioner’s mandate is due to expire on the 22nd December 2011. If by this date the entire election procedure is not completed, Serbia will be left without a leader for this important institution.This danger is made all the greater by the possibility that the (un)official start of the election campaign will result in the Assembly’s work being blocked. The Coalition requests that the Committee publishes a list of all candidates for this function that it considers, as well as information on their qualifications. The Law allows for the possibility that the current Commissioner (Rodoljub Šabić) remains for another seven year term. The Coalition believes that the best solution would be for him to remain in this position, bearing in mind this institution’s exceptional achievements to date in realising the right to access to information, the public esteem which he personally enjoys, as well as the National Assembly’s own evaluation of this institution’s work.
