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Vojvodina Statute Adopted in Ceremonial Session
Belgrade | 14 December 2009 | Bojana Barlovac
Vojvodina's highest legal act has been adopted in a ceremonial session at the province's provincial assembly.
Beta news agency reports that 86 members of the assembly from the ruling Democratic Party, DS, led coalition voted in favour, while three deputies from the opposition Democratic Party of Serbia-New Serbia list voted against. Another two opposition parties, the Serb Radical Party, SRS, and the Serb Progressive Party, SNS, did not attend the session, since they consider the statute an act of separation that will lead to secession.
The provincial assembly adopted the statute draft on 14 October, 2008, but it took over a year for the Serbian parliament to approve the document, as well as all accompanying laws for transferring authorities to Vojvodina.
The President of the Assembly of Vojvodina Sandor Egeresi said at the ceremony that the statute will benefit citizens of the province and Serbia as a whole.
"The provisions of the Statute of Vojvodina provide instruments for the smooth and efficient economic development, to preserve the identity of national communities in Vojvodina since multi-nationalism, multi-culturalism and multi-denominationalism are traditionally fostered (in the province)," Egeresi said.
The Chairman of the Executive Council of Vojvodina Bojan Pajtic said the statute preserves the integrity of Serbia. "Centralism has been surpassed long ago and it didnt' bring anything good in the past decade. There were too many doubts..., insults, and the citizens of Vojvodina do not deserve that. If some still have a fear that we will depart from 'us', they know nothing about us," Pajtic said.
Serbian President Boris Tadic, Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic and Parliamentary Speaker Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic were all invited to attend the ceremonial session, but none of them showed up.
According to Beta, Djukic Dejanovic sent a telegram of support to the assembly, in which she said that she could not come as a discussion of the budget bill is scheduled for the same day in Serbia's Parliament where her presence is necessary.
"I hope that the consistent implementation of the Statute of Vojvodina will enable regionalisation, decentralisation and development of the province and thus Serbia as well," the speaker says in the telegram.
For more information, please see: Serbs Reach Deal over Northern Province’s Autonomy
