Ahead of a planned adoption of a constitutional law regulating the implementation of the newly-promulgated Serbian Constitution, the chairman of the Croat National Council, Josip Pekanovic, has sent an open letter to the Serbian Parliament speaker to remind him of the fact that Serbian authorities have not yet met their obligations stemming from the Serbian-Croatian agreement on the protection of respective minorities.
Article 9 of the said agreement stipulates that ethnic minorities are entitled to direct representation in law-making bodies and executive bodies at all levels of power.
Pekanovic recalls that in Croatia, ethnic Serbs have three seats in the national parliament and in this context he mentioned the obligation of Serbia to ensure also seats for Croats in the national parliament.
In case this issue cannot be solved by the constitutional law, the Croat community in Serbia will raise its voice and insist on these rights, Pekanovic said.
Serbian Croats for years have been insisting on the right to be allocated seats in the Serbian national assembly, but Belgrade has so far denied them this right with the explanation that a seat can be won only at elections.