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A petition is launched for the dismissal of the mayors in North Mitrovica and Leposavic

2024-01-17 08:40:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

A petition is launched for the dismissal of the mayors in North Mitrovica and

Illustrative photo

In North Mitrovica and Leposaviq, from today citizens can sign the petition to dismiss the mayors of the municipalities from among the Albanian community.

The collection of signatures will start at 09:00.

In North Mitrovica, the petition is launched after the municipal assemblymen approved the initiator's request that the collection of signatures be done in the sports hall in this municipality in the north of Kosovo, inhabited by a majority of Serbs.

Meanwhile, in Leposaviq, according to one of the initiators of the petition, Veselli Radovic, permission has been obtained to use the space in front of the municipality for collecting signatures.

Sanja Kërtini?, one of the initiators of the request to launch the petition in North Mitrovica, through the media, informed the citizens to take with them the necessary documents for signing the petition.

She invited the citizens to sign the request for the dismissal of the current mayor of the municipality, calling on the directors of the institutions that are financed by Serbia and the employees of these institutions, who have residence in North Mitrovica, to take their identity cards with them and sign the petition. .

According to some sources of Radio Free Europe, messages with such appeals to sign the petition were sent to the workers of the Hospital Clinical Center in North Mitrovica, teachers, workers of municipal institutions working under the Serbian system, as well as those who left institutions of Kosovo in 2022, but from now on they are paid from the budget of Serbia.

Employees of various institutions in North Mitrovica are expected to go organized to the sports hall to sign the petition. Employees have been called on social networks to be there at 09:00.

Radio Free Europe has learned that the leaders of the parallel institutions have told the workers who are on winter vacation and are not in North Mitrovica, that they can sign the petition until January 21.

Next week, the collection of signatures is expected to start in Zveçan and Zubin Potok.

The mayors in the four municipalities in the north of Kosovo, which are inhabited by a majority of Serbs - North Mitrovica, Leposaviq, Zveçan and Zubin Potok - are Albanians, after the parties and the Serbian population boycotted last year's local elections.

The signatures for their removal are now being collected based on the Administrative Instruction of the Government of Kosovo, which was approved at the beginning of September 2023.

In order for the petition to be successful, it is required to collect at least 20 percent of the signatures from the total number of registered voters.

According to the Central Election Commission (CEC), in North Mitrovica, at least 3,640 signatures must be collected for the dismissal of the mayor of the municipality, since 18,199 people with the right to vote are registered in the electoral list.

In the municipality of Leposaviq, 13,441 people have the right to vote, which means that at least 2,689 of them must sign the petition for the dismissal of the mayor.

In Zubin Potok, at least 1,347 voters must respond to the petition, which is 20 percent of the 6,732 registered voters.

And in Zveçan, for the petition to be successful, it must be signed by at least 1,411 people.

According to the Administrative Instruction for the dismissal of the leader of the municipality, a group of citizens, after receiving the authorization to use a public area or place to start a petition, have 30 days to collect signatures for the dismissal of the mayor. This term can be extended only once up to 15 days.

However, the Minister of Local Government Administration, Elbert Krasniqi, declared last week that the citizens of North Mitrovica, Leposaviqi and Zubin Potok have until December 22nd to collect signatures. He added that the deadline for the citizens of the municipality of Zveçan is longer by about five days, because the request to know the exact number of registered voters was submitted to the CEC later.

If the CEC confirms that the collected signatures are as many as required and verifies them, then the vote for the dismissal of the chairman is organized, which must be held within 45 days. For this vote to be successful, 50 percent, plus one vote of citizens with the right to vote, is needed.

After that, the result is sent to the president of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, who has a legal deadline of 30 to 45 days to announce the holding of early elections.

The inauguration of Albanian mayors in the municipalities in the north fueled tensions at the end of last May, tensions that culminated in Zveçan, after Serbian protesters clashed with members of the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, KFOR.

The international community has demanded the reduction of tensions and the announcement of new elections in the four municipalities in the north of Kosovo. /REL