New statute "won't diminish Vojvodina's autonomy"

New statute "won't diminish Vojvodina's autonomy"

"The statute has been harmonized with the decision of the Constitutional Court, but no solution has diminished the autonomy of the province. Novi Sad is the administrative center of the provincial government, the government of Vojvodina is not called this but the provincial government. So, the essence has not changed, rather the names have changed," Gojković told the public broadcaster RTS.

Noting that the previous statute was not harmonized with the Constitution of Serbia, she said the new proposal is, and will be discussed by the province's assembly as soon as on Tuesday.

According to the speaker, all dilemmas have been removed in the new proposal, while she believes that the provincial assembly would easily arrive at a draft that would be immediately sent to the parliament in Belgrade.

She is convinced that no political party would be "absolutely be against the new proposal," and that "a majority of both the government and opposition will adopt it."

Gojković also revealed that the session of parliament on Friday would be special and dedicated only to the Vojvodina Statute.

When asked whether these changes were a prelude to snap provincial elections in Vojvodina - where a coalition led by the Democratic Party (DS) is in power - she said:

"The SNS does not have the goal of coming to power through political crises, but only by the will of the citizens, but the question should be directed at the provincial government and Bojan Pajtić - whether he feels any discomfort in exercising that power every day, while having the support of only six percent of the population of Vojvodina. I would be very uncomfortable in his role, and I would call elections myself."

Vojvodina Assembly President and leader of the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians (SVM) Istvan Pasztor told reporters that his party was not "entirely satisfied" with the solutions presented in the draft, but expressed his satisfaction that an agreement and compromise had been reached.

"It is no secret that we stand for as great as possible autonomy of Vojvodina, but that is now not possible because of the Constitutional Court's decision and the existing constitutional solutions. If there is a revision of the Constitution we will fight for it," said this MP in the Serbian parliament.

On the other hand, the Vojvodina Club NGO called on all deputies in the Vojvodina Assembly to vote against the draft, saying that it proposed to "abolish what little autonomy we have," and that those who voted in favor would "tacitly agree to an introduction into a dictatorship."

The NGO also urged the provincial assembly to demand the adoption of a new Constitution of Serbia, that would resolve the issue of Vojvodina's position "in a legal and legitimate manner."