Hodžić: I will advocate for the problems of national minorities

(Patria) - New parliamentary representative from the ranks of national minorities Armin Hodžić, candidate of the National Coordination of Bosniaks in Croatia, announced yesterday that he will advocate for solving the problems minorities face in elections, and also expressed a desire to be a bridge of cooperation between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In the elections, he defeated the incumbent representative Ermina Lekaj Prljaskaj (Union of Albanians in the Republic of Croatia) and entered the Parliament, which he assessed was not expected by the majority of the public.

- We have not been in the Croatian Parliament for the last two full terms, and in principle we have lost the last three election cycles. However, we are glad that after nine years we have returned to the Parliament and have the opportunity to do something, not only for our community, but also for the national communities I am obliged to represent - Hodžić emphasized in an interview with Hina.

Hodžić will, in addition to the Bosniak community, also represent the Albanian, Montenegrin, Macedonian and Slovenian national minorities in the Parliament.

One of the most important issues he will focus on during his term is the issue of registering Bosniaks in the voter list.

- A long-standing problem is that every other person is not registered as a Bosniak in the voter list, but as a Muslim with a capital M.

We have been struggling with this problem for two decades, and even now on election day we had a situation where several hundred people contacted us, who approached the polling station convinced they could vote for the representative of Bosniaks, but unfortunately they were not registered and returned home disappointed - Hodžić states.

He also points out that this is one of the reasons why Bosniaks have not been in the Parliament for nine years, because practically half of their electorate does not have the right to vote.

He also emphasized the improvement of the infrastructure of Bosniak organizations, the construction of cultural and community centers that will be their gathering places, affirming and preserving their cultural and national identity.

- I want us to be, in some way, a bridge of cooperation between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to the extent that we can from our modest position contribute to the relations between the two peoples and states - Hodžić said.

Speaking about cooperation with representatives of other national minorities, he points out that every initiative that goes hand in hand with the preservation of human rights and the rights of national minorities is common to them.

In doing so, he highlighted one of the many things they share - voting in elections.

- Voting is secret according to the letter of the Constitution. However, members of national minorities, when they come to the polling station, must request the minority list from the polling board. Thus, they show who they certainly did not vote for - Hodžić notes.

He adds that information from the field shows that some people have a problem with declaring themselves and requesting the list for national minorities.

- In that context, we all need to sit down together and see how to eliminate that part. There are a lot of things we can work on, and I believe we will do that in this term - he stated.

Asked whether he had been called by parties negotiating the formation of the ruling majority, Hodžić replied that they are discussing the topic, but it is too early to say or predict anything concrete.

- I believe that in the coming days we will very quickly be able to know the outlines of the new parliamentary majority and the Government. When that happens, we will be ready to share our position - he stated.

Members of the Club of Representatives of National Minorities met yesterday in the Croatian Parliament, and Hodžić pointed out that they discussed many topics, expressed their views, but also got to know each other given that he is a new representative.