Serbs in Kosovo establish parallel parliament

29/06/2008

PRISTINA, Kosovo -- Serbs in Kosovo established their own parliament on Saturday (June 28th), headquartered in the town of Serb-dominated northern part of Mitrovica. The parliament, formed as a result of the early May 11th elections in Serbia, was constituted by 30 of the 45 representatives elected during local elections in the former Serbian province. The institution will have symbolic functions and will not adopt legislation. Radovan Nicic, of the ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party (SRS), was elected as speaker. Marko Jaksic of the Democratic Party of Serbia and Srdjan Nikolic of the SRS were elected deputy speakers. Serbian officials, including Minister for Kosovo Slobodan Samardzic, who attended the constituent session, welcomed the new parliament, saying it would allow Serbs and other non-Albanians in Kosovo to live on its territory as normal Serbian citizens. In Pristina, Deputy Prime Minister Rame Manaj slammed the Serbian assembly as an "illegal and unacceptable" act. (Tanjug, AFP, Beta, B92, BBC, Xinhua - 28/06/08)