Slovenian mayor's skin colour irrelevant

For the first time in Slovenia's history a black mayor was elected on Sunday. The Ghanaian-born doctor Peter Bossman took the day in the run-off vote in the coastal city of Piran. The daily Delo complains that media coverage focused solely on Bossman's skin colour: "The press and other media were most interested in the question of whether Slovenia is democratic enough - and if people would dare - to elect a black man as mayor. That is sad. But most people in Piran didn't share these worries. What they were interested in was which candidate would do the most to improve their living conditions. ... From this perspective the oh-so-interesting political question running through the country was a matter of indifference, namely whether it's right for a black man to be elected mayor in the city of Piran. The Piraners, on the other hand, say: What does it matter what colour the cat is? Any colour you like as long as it can catch mice."

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