Ahmedin Škrijelj

Ahmedin Škrijelj (Ахмедин Шкријељ; born 8 August 1982) is a Serbian politician from the country's Bosniak community. He is a veteran politician in Novi Pazar and was the city's deputy mayor from 2012 to 2013. Since February 2024, he has been a member of the National Assembly of Serbia. Škrijelj is a member of the Party of Democratic Action of Sandžak (SDA).

Early life and career
Škrijelj was born in Novi Pazar, in the Sandžak region of what was then the Socialist Republic of Serbia in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He received a bachelor's degree in law and economics and afterward studied for a master's degree in international law at the University of Kragujevac. He now holds a master of political science degree.

Early years in Novi Pazar
Škrijelj appeared in the thirty-first position on the SDA's electoral list for the Novi Pazar municipal assembly in the 2004 Serbian local elections and was given a mandate after the party won a plurality victory with twenty-one out of forty-seven seats. (In the 2004 local elections, one-third of assembly mandates were awarded to candidates on successful lists in numerical order while the remaining two-thirds were distributed amongst other candidates at the discretion of the sponsoring parties or coalitions. Škrijelj received one of the SDA's "optional" mandates).

Mayors were directly elected in the 2004 local elections, and this resulted in a divided administration in Novi Pazar: SDA leader Sulejman Ugljanin won the mayoral contest, but the rival Sandžak Democratic Party (SDP) was able to form a coalition government with smaller parties in the local assembly. Škriljelj served as a member of the opposition in his first term. The political climate in the city was extremely tense in this period, and ultimately a new local assembly election was held in 2006. On this occasion, the SDA won a majority victory with twenty-seven seats. Škrijelj was again included on the SDA's list and was elected for a second term.

Serbia abandoned the direct election of mayors with the 2008 local elections. Since this time, mayors have been chosen by the elected members of the local assemblies. Škrijelj once again appeared on the SDA's list in Novi Pazar and was given a mandate for a third term when the list won eighteen seats. The SDP's alliance won twenty-three seats and formed a new coalition government with a local alliance of Serb parties, and the SDA returned to opposition.

Škrijlej also received the twenty-first position on the SDA-led Bosniak List for a European Sandžak in the 2008 Serbian parliamentary election, which was held concurrently with the local vote. The list won two seats, and he was not chosen for a mandate. (From 2000 to 2011, mandates in Serbian parliamentary elections were awarded to sponsoring parties or coalitions rather than individual candidates, and it was common practice for the mandates to be assigned out of numerical order. Škrijelj could have been given a mandate despite his position on the list, though ultimately he was not.)

Škrijelj publicly called for the SDP to form a new local coalition government with the SDA in Novi Pazar in January 2011, pointing to a recent alliance of the parties in Sjenica.

Serbia's electoral system was reformed in 2011, such that all mandates were awarded to candidates on successful lists in numerical order. Škrijelj appeared in the second position on the SDA's list for Novi Pazar in the 2012 local elections and was re-elected when the list won fourteen seats. He also appeared in the fifth position on the SDA's list in the concurrent 2012 parliamentary election and was not elected when the list won two mandates.

The SDP's alliance narrowly won the 2012 city election in Novi Pazar but fell well short of a majority and afterward formed a grand coalition with the SDA. Škrijelj became his party's main representative in the city administration and was confirmed as deputy mayor on 15 June 2012. The alliance between the two historical rivals did not last long, however, and in February 2013 the SDP formed a new governing coalition that did not include the SDA. Škrijelj left office on 21 February 2013; in so doing, he said that any SDA officials not formally replaced by the new city administration would resign out of party solidarity.

Škrijelj appeared in the eighth position on the SDA's list in the 2014 Serbian parliamentary election and was not elected when the list won three mandates. After this, he largely withdrew from active political life for a few years.

Bosniak National Council
Prior to 2010, Serbia's national minority councils were chosen by electoral colleges of community representatives. Škrijelj was an elector for the Bosniak National Council (BNV) in this period. The Serbian government introduced direct elections for the BNV and most other national councils in 2010.

Škrijelj received the largely honorary thirty-fifth and final position on a SDA-affiliated list in the 2018 election for the Bosniak National Council. The list won fourteen seats, and he was not elected. After the election, the SDA and SDP once again joined forces to govern the council, and Esad Džudžo was chosen as its president. Škrijelj became the legal representative of the SDA-aligned council group.

In June 2019, the BNV presented an address to the governments of Serbia and Montenegro calling for the Sandžak to receive special self-governing status. Džudžo distanced himself from the address, saying that it was done without his knowledge or support. Subsequently, SDA leader Sulejman Ugljanin endorsed the call for special status, and leading SDA officials called for Džudžo to resign. Škrijelj, in this period, accused Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić and his administration of seeking to undermine the legitimate requests of the Bosniak community and described Džudžo as an enabler of this process. Džudžo, for his part, rejected the calls for his resignation and described the special status initiative as the work of a pro-Albanian lobby group operating within the SDA. The BNV leadership replaced Džudžo with Jasmina Curić shortly thereafter, although the special status initiative ultimately gained little traction.

Return to political life
Škrijelj received the third position on the SDA's list for the Novi Pazar city assembly in the 2020 local elections and was elected to a fifth local assembly term when the list won nine seats, finishing third against the SDP and the Justice and Reconciliation Party (SPP). The SDP formed a new coalition government after the election, the Škrijelj led the SDA's group in opposition. His term lasted until the assembly was dissolved on 30 October 2023 for early elections.

He received the fifth position on the SDA's list in the 2020 parliamentary election and was not elected when the list won three seats. In the 2022 parliamentary election, he was given the third position and narrowly missed election when the list won two seats.

Parliamentarian
Škrijelj was promoted to the second position on the SDA's list for the 2023 parliamentary election and was elected to the national assembly when the list won two seats. He took his seat when the assembly convened in February 2024. The Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and its allies won the election, and the SDA now serves in opposition. In an assembly debate on the approval of the new ministry, Škrijelj said the government would not be legitimate because the election had been "stolen" and described Bosniaks in the SNS-led administration as "private Bosniaks of the government."

He is a member of an assembly working group for the improvement of the electoral process.