Albanian party from south ready to be part of government

Albanian party from south ready to be part of government

Hasani will be the party's sole deputy in Serbia's new National Assembly, elected on April 24, and believes he can "be a bridge of cooperation."

"We want to be a positive influence on stability, to be a bridge of cooperation between Serbia, Albania, and Kosovo. Our goal is also to influence the development of Presevo, Medvedja, and Bujanovac," Hasani said, referencing to three municipalities in southern Serbia.

He added that the main goal of his activities will be economic development of these municipalities - but that there was "nothing, for the time being, that could be negotiated with the ruling majority."

Asked whether the party intends to seek a ministerial position, or that of a state secretary, Hasani replied, "Nothing has been determined precisely yet."

The PDA, led by Riza Halimi, is the only local party from southern Serbia that participated in the snap parliamentary election, as all others decided to boycott it.

"They did boycott the election, but I am able to cooperate with those parties as well, and present their positions in the Assembly," said Hasani.

Fundamental issue

Making Serbia's ethnic Albanians a part of the parliamentary majority is the fundamental issue, PDA leader Riza Halimi said on Monday after consultations with Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic on the new government.

The parties that have formed parliamentary majorities in the past were not interested in ethnic Albanian participation, Halimi told reporters.

"Our basic demand was that the position on southern Serbia, which has an ethnic Albanian majority, be changed and that the approach to solving problems be changed through the government and other executive authorities," Halimi said.

Speaking about the Coordination Body for Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, he said that the body operates in ethnic Albanian-majority areas, "while the main affairs are being managed from Belgrade."