Serbia urges Bosniak Council to be voted before winter

As Minorities Minister recommends re-run elections for Bosniak National Council before winter, the Bosniak Cultural Community, BKZ, led by Muamer Zukorlic, gives cool response.

Serbia’s new Minister for Human and Minority Rights says fresh elections for the Bosniak National Council, representing the country’s Muslim community, should take place by the end of 2011.

“This is in the state’s interest and is needed by the Bosniak people; it’s realistic to do this before the start of a severe winter in this region,” Milan Markovic said on Friday.

The first election to the Bosniak National Council took place last June but the outcome has become mired in controversy and lawsuits.

Under a law adopted in 2009, Serbia set up national councils for all its ethnic minorities, with a view to giving them more control over their own affairs. The councils were endowed with a number of competences in the fields of education, culture and the media.