Murati calls for law enforcement bodies to act over Serbian List statements

Hekuran Murati, a deputy from the Vetëvendosje Movement, said that law enforcement bodies and the prosecution should act over the words used by representatives of the Serbian List.

“I do not think it was tolerated, but I believe you saw that we voted against it. As for what someone may say on the spot, we do not have control over that. The law enforcement bodies and the prosecution should have dealt with this,” Murati said.

The reaction came after statements by Serbian List deputy Sllavisha Simiq, who referred to the “Serbian people” during today’s session and called the Kosovo Assembly the Parliament of Prishtina. He made the comments while proposing Igor Simiq for the post of deputy speaker of the Assembly.

During the September 9 session, meanwhile, Assembly Speaker Albulena Haxhiu had objected to a statement by Igor Simiq while he was proposing Slavko Simiq for deputy speaker. On that occasion, Simiq said the candidacy was being presented “on behalf of the Serbian people.”

Haxhiu described the wording as unacceptable and contrary to Kosovo’s Constitution, and asked the deputy to withdraw the statement.

This time, however, the Assembly speaker did not react to Simiq’s speech, in which he said it concerned “deputies from the ranks of the Serbian community and people who represent the Serbian people here in the parliament of Prishtina.”

“The deputies from the ranks of the Serbian community and people who represent the Serbian people here in the Prishtina parliament propose Mr. Igor Simiq as a candidate for deputy speaker,” Simiq said.

Unlike the previous session, when the reference to the “Serbian people” in the proposal led to the session being suspended, proceedings continued this time. The Vetëvendosje Movement voted against the proposal.

After his candidacy was rejected for the second consecutive time, the Serbian List put forward other names for deputy speaker of the Assembly.

Deputy Liljana Stefanoviq was voted on first, but she failed to secure the required number of votes. The proposals for Srdjan Popoviq, Branislav Nikoliq, Jovana Radosavleviq, Milan Joksimoviq and Zlatan Elek subsequently met the same fate.

After voting against several Serbian List candidacies, the Vetëvendosje Movement supported Tanja Vujoviq, a deputy from the party, for the post of deputy speaker of the Assembly. She received 62 votes in favor, six against and three abstentions.