ZAGREB, April 17, 2018 – Darko Šarić Lukendić of the Croatian National Council (HNV) in Serbia on Monday criticised a draft law on national councils which is currently under public consultation, saying that some of its regulations are restricting ethnic minority rights.
“If you look at the draft bill, it seems like the intention of the lawmakers is to restrict rather than promote mechanism for exercising minority rights, Šarić Lukendić tol Hina after a round table debate on a draft law on national councils, held in Belgrade.
He warned about several regulations to which objections were made not only by representatives of the Croat ethnic minority but other ethnic minorities as well.
“For example, under the draft law, membership of the national council of an ethnic minority group is incompatible with membership of a political or minority organisation. At the same time, these kind of restrictions do not apply to a representative body at any level – state, province or local,” Šarić Lukendić said.
The Serbia State Administration Ministry and local self-government bodies are conducting public consultation on a draft bill of amendments to the law on national councils of ethnic minorities. The public consultation was launched on 29 March and it will last until 18 April.
