Serbia's multiethnic province of Vojvodina approved last year a new Statute that provided the executive and the legislative powers with more powers and a high degree of self-government. The bill aroused harsh criticism among the three main Serbian parties -Serbian Radical Party, Democratic Party of Serbia and Forward Serbia. As regards the Democratic Party (DS), its section in Vojvodina even promoted the bill, but the central party rejected the proposal.

After 13 months of parliamentary deadlock, it seems that Belgrade is finally to discuss the statute in the central legislative assembly, an indispensable step so that it can come into force. B92 informs that the government has issued a working draft of the Law on Determining the Jurisdiction of Vojvodina, which will be discussed at the government meeting this Thursday along with the draft statute. Then the Statute and the draft bill will be sent to parliament and enter the final stage of discussion.

The bill drafted by the executive includes a number of restrictions to the powers provided by the Statute. For instance, it establishes that Vojvodina has the right to open an office in Brussels, but will be able to sign only regional treaties, not international agreements. It also says that the Assembly of Vojvodina will only have the right to enact secondary legislation. "It will have a development bank, but a special law will govern the province's assets", B92 reports.

Democratic Party's president of the Executive Council of Vojvodina Bojan Pajtić has said that "all dilemmas and disputes have been resolved", in reference to the draft issued by his party comrades in Belgrade.

Officials of the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians, the party representing the largest minority in the province, have declared that the draft the law is "not ideal", but added that the party will give green light to both the draft and the statute "because it does not want to stop Vojvodina's development".

However, the League of Social-Democrats of Vojvodina (LSV), in government coalition in the province's cabinet, has expressed its refusal to the amendments made by the Serbian executive, and added it will vote against it. "We cannot agree that Vojvodina will not have a capital city, its academy of science and arts, that it cannot govern public enterprises and that the source of income and assets won't be determined," said Bojan Kostreš, the LSV spokesman.

Further information:

• B92: Government to discuss Vojvodina bill
• Tanjug: The "Bill on Vojvodina" has to be harmonized with the Constitution
• Nationalia:L'Assemblea de Vojvodina defensa el seu estatut davant dels atacs de l'Església i els partits serbis i Vojvodina espera l'aprovació imminent del seu nou Estatut d'autonomia.