The CEC is waiting for the legal deadlines for the certification of the Serbian List

2024-12-26 10:18:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The CEC is waiting for the legal deadlines for the certification of the Serbian

The Central Election Commission is waiting for the legal procedures to be completed in order to then decide on the inclusion in the agenda of the issue of the certification of the Serbian List for the February 9 parliamentary elections.

On December 25, the Electoral Panel for Complaints and Submissions (PZAP) annulled the CEC's decision not to certify the Serbian List and ordered it to certify this party.

"In the decision of the PZAP, there is legal advice, according to which an appeal against it is allowed in the Supreme Court, within 48 hours from the moment of the decision. Therefore, the CEC, before setting this issue on the agenda, will wait for the conclusion of the legal procedures", said the CEC spokesperson, Valmir Elezi, for Radio Evropa e Lire.

On December 23, representatives of the ruling party, the Vetëvendosje Movement, voted against the certification of Lista Serbe – the main party of the Serbs in Kosovo, which enjoys the support of Belgrade.

Meanwhile, representatives of other parties abstained.

Lista Serbe, which called this action illegal, welcomed the decision of PZAP and said that the decision of December 23 was an attempt "to eliminate Lista Serbe" from the electoral process.

In its decision, PZAP said that the Office for Registration, Certification and Financial Control of Political Entities had recommended that the Serbian List be certified after submitting the documentation in accordance with the Law on General Elections and other CEC rules.

So, according to PZAP, the Serbian List has met the criteria after submitting the "political statement", the list of candidates and the application for each candidate, and for this party the Office for Registration and Certification has received the information from the institutions responsible for the verification of parties, as required by the Law on general elections.

The panel of judges, consisting of presiding judges Arsim Hamzaj, Kujtim Pasuli, Hidajete Gashi-Alaj and Bujar Muzaqi, said that according to the Law on Elections, "the CEC certifies the political entity with the right to participate if it submits the application submitted to the prescribed form and on the date set by the CEC rules".

Those familiar with political developments earlier in the week told Radio Free Europe that the non-certification of the Serbian List by the CEC was part of the pre-election campaign. They warned that the Electoral Panel for Complaints and Submissions will make a decision in favor of the Serbian List and oblige the CEC to certify this party.

Lista Serbe has announced that it will participate in the February 9 elections after a period of boycotting political processes in Kosovo.

In 2022, members of this party resigned collectively from the institutions of Kosovo, as a sign of opposition to the decisions of the Kosovo authorities for the extension of authority throughout the territory of the country.

The former vice-president of this party, Millan Radoicic, has taken responsibility for the attack on September 24 of last year in Banjska of Zveçani, when a group of armed Serbs killed a sergeant of the Kosovo Police.

Kosovo authorities consider this attack as terrorist and blame the Serbian state for organizing and carrying it out, but Belgrade rejects these accusations.

The members of the Vetëvendosje Movement in the CEC have argued the non-certification of the Serbian List with the fact that, according to them, this party has never condemned the attack in Banjska and has not distanced itself from the "terrorist acts that took place in Kosovo".

Kosovo requests the extradition of Radoicic to Kosovo, while he is believed to be free in Serbia./ REL