In Kosovo, parliament ends deadlock but largest Serbian political party disputes solution

Kosovo MPs elected an ethnic Serb deputy speaker on Friday, finalising the formation of a new government after nearly nine months of deadlock. “I have the pleasure [to announce] that with 71 votes in favour, we have elected the last [deputy] leader [of the parliament] and have declared the Parliament constituted,” parliament speaker Dimal Basha said on Friday, after the vote for Rasic. “The procedure was absolutely correct. The nine MPs [from Srpska Lista] were proposed and exhausted.” But the breakthrough was quickly challenged. Belgrade-backed party Srpska Lista, representing Kosovo Serbs, said it objects the decision because it says Nenad Rasic, elected as the last of parliament’s five deputy speakers, is not from its ranks. None of the candidates for deputy proposed by Srpska Lista received enough votes.
Read the full article here: Balkan Insight