Why the President of the Assembly warned the MP Atlagic for insulting speech, but remained silent towards representatives of the executive? In the new episode of #CoupletChorusRebuttals listen to what kind of discussion in the plenary was provoked by the speech of the Saip Kamberi in the Albanian language.
At the last session, MPs and the Minister of the Interior, as well as the Speaker of the Assembly, showed how some people in Serbia imagine respect for the rights of minorities. The Speaker did warn MPs for the insulting speech, but remained silent towards representatives of the executive. Admittedly, one of the few Albanian representatives in the Serbian Parliament, Shaip Kamberi did not announce in time that he would speak in his mother tongue and the translation was therefore not provided. It was later confirmed that in his speech, Kamberi inter alia raised his voice against the decision of the High Court in Belgrade, which refused to find Minister Aleksandar Vulin guilty of discrimination and thus, according to Kamberi, “legalised the offensive term ‘Shiptar’ used in Serbia for Albanians from Kosovo.” Some MPs protested during the speech in the Albanian language, which is why the Speaker of the Assembly of Serbia, Ivica Dačić, reacted three times.
“Would you please… I don’t understand this heckling. Listen, we are all MPs of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, which passed the laws. In article 9 of the Law on the National Assembly, article 11 of the Law on Protection of the Rights and Freedoms of National Minorities, this right exists. And that is why I’m asking you to respect that right, because it is important for the Republic of Serbia.”
The MP Marko Atlagić from the Serbian Progressive Party tried to provoke a reaction by persistently repeating the mentioned insulting expression, and in addition he insulted one of the leaders of the non-parliamentary opposition, so he was mildly reprimanded by Dačić.
“The Shiptar leadership in Priština glorifies Vuk Jeremić every year on November 27 th . Mister Vulin and MPs, it can be seen that Vuk Jeremić is a great pest for our country. He’s just a treacherous thug!”
“Thank you, professor, I would just like to ask you to attune your discussion in future to the Code we have passed. You may not use profanity or any other offensive language.”
At the end of the debate, the Minister of the Interior, Aleksandar Vulin, expressed his position by repeating the expression Shiptar in his speech as many as 25 times, to which the Speaker of the Assembly did not say a word.
“Mr. Kamberi says he does not use the official term – Albanians. Which official authority does he talk about? Who has decided that? In the ‘Matica Srpska’ dictionary, which [is an institution that] is more educated than both of us, it says that ‘Shiptar’ is a synonym for ‘Albanian’ What is the problem? Do you want to paint over, rewrite or complement ‘Matica srpska’, do you want us to let you write our own language, to create another one, a better one? It’s not a shame to be a Shiptar. On the contrary. You should be proud that you’re a Shiptar, but it is a shame to think that you can decide how Serbs should speak.”
The dictionary may say that it is the same, but in the public speech in Serbia it is difficult to find an example of the term ‘Shiptar’ being used in a positive context.
For the Open Parliament Mirjana Nikolić.