Vojvodina assembly adopts amendments to provincial statute

NOVI SAD - The assembly of Serbia's northern province of Vojvodina on Wednesday adopted the proposed amendments to the provincial statute, which are also to be discussed in the Serbian parliament on Friday.

Ninety-nine out of the 120 assembly members voted for the amendments, with six voting against.

The Democratic Party of Serbia and the Serbian Radical Party voted against the amendments, while the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina (LSV) did not take part in the vote.

In the debate on the new Vojvodina statute, most party whips said that Assembly Speaker Istvan Pastor deserves the most credit for the fact that it has been tabled to the Assembly.

All political parties demonstrated a maximum level of seriousness in the process of amending the statute, while the Assembly of Vojvodina showed that it is a serious institution by ensuring more than the two thirds of votes (80) required for adopting it, Pastor said.

LSV whip Branislav Bogaroski said that the party's representatives, as advocates of respect of law and courts, cannot vote against the proposed statute after the Constitutional Court of Serbia ordered the amendments.

The proposed statute is a result of many compromises, Bogaroski said, adding that the LSV also cannot abstain from voting on such a "major issue", announcing that the party's representatives will take no part in the vote.

Socialist Party of Serbia whip Pavle Budakov said that, after making a series of compromises, opposition parties in the Assembly made a greater contribution to the adoption of the statute than the ruling coalition (led by the Democratic Party).

Predrag Matejin of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) said that the SNS, which leads the...