Bujanovac – At the constitutive session in Bujanovac,  representatives of the four Albanian parties established a mono-ethnic local government. This is the first time in 18 years that the government in Bujanovac is not multiethnic. Representatives of the Serbian parties left the session, because they believe that such a decision is harmful for all the citizens.

Upon a seven-hour session, Nagip Arifi from the Democratic Party was elected the President of the Municipality of Bujanovac, who has already performed that function in three terms of office. The President of the Assembly is Enver Ramadani from the Party for Democratic Action.

“We will make it possible for the Serbian side to be part of the expanded coalition. I hope that we should have talks on that matter next week or in the course of the next month. We wanted to abide by the law today, considering that it is the last day for the election, "said Nagip Arifi, the President of the Municipality of Bujanovac.

The Serbian councilors of the coalition gathered around the Serbian Progressive Party (SPP) and the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) left the session after the verification of the mandates.

“We, Serbs, had objections to something like that because the entire Serbian people were excluded from the social and political life of the municipality of Bujanovac. We believe that this is not good. We are of the view that Albanians are sending a bad message, above all, to us, their Serb neighbors who live with them, "said Nenad Mitrovic from the SPP Bujanovac.

Stojanca Arsic from the coalition gathered around the SPS said that they had wasted 16 years.

"In the beginning, or for about two years, a hybrid multiethnic government functioned, but after 2010, the principle was that the multiethnic government was formed on the basis of representation, or on the basis of the proportional make-up of the population, which consists of the Roma, Serbs and Albanians," Mr. Arsic said.  

Since an emergency situation is in force in Bujanovac, the session was held in the conference room of the Cultural Center, and not in the conference room of the Assembly, during which protection measures were complied with.

Source: RTS and Coordination Body