Questions about the referendum on the removal of mayors of municipalities in the north of Kosovo

2024-04-13 18:42:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Questions about the referendum on the removal of mayors of municipalities in the

The success of the referendum to remove the current mayors of the four municipalities in the north of Kosovo seems to be in question since the decision of the Serbian political entity, Lista Serbe, to boycott it. Connoisseurs of political developments in the north say that the necessary participation of 50 percent plus one of the registered voters, in this referendum, seems difficult to achieve.

The Central Election Commission continued its work on Saturday for the organization of the referendum for the removal of the mayors of four municipalities in the north of Kosovo, which would pave the way for new elections. But its success has been called into question by the decision of the Belgrade-backed Serbian List to boycott it.

Milica Andriç Rakiç, from the "New Social Initiative" organization, said in a conversation with the Voice of America that the referendum seems likely to fail.

"Maybe we could have a successful vote in Zveçan and Leposavic, but it is very, very difficult. For Zubin Potok, I am almost certain that it cannot be achieved because most of the residents who have left the north are from Zubin Potok, but immediately after it comes North Mitrovica. Therefore, I would say that if there is success, it can happen in Zveçan and Leposavic, but this would be very optimistic, the greatest possibility is that it will fail in all four municipalities", she says.

The chairman of the municipal assembly of North Mitrovica, Nexhat Uglanin, told the Voice of America that the call of the Serbian List to boycott this process is evidence of the cruelty that Belgrade continues to exercise against the Serbs of Kosovo.

"It is clearly seen that the influence of the Republic of Serbia is great in the northern part, especially from the political entity Lista Serbe. The boycott will be carried out and the citizens from the Serbian majority will not declare for the dismissal of the president. But the CEC process will not be stopped, but will be carried out in a democratic way", said Mr. Uglanin.

To be successful, the referendum requires the participation of 50 percent plus one of the most eligible voters. The political representatives of the Serbs here, but also the authorities in Belgrade, say that it is difficult to fulfill this criterion due to the "inflating of the voter lists", but without providing any evidence for this claim. Meanwhile, the authorities in Kosovo accuse Belgrade of exerting pressure on Kosovo Serbs not to participate in the April 21 vote, which in case of failure will not be able to be organized again before 12 months have passed.

"Even before the petition was signed, we had problems with the inflated number of registered voters since December 2023, so just less than five months ago we had 45,000 voters and now we have 46,000 registered voters. So even at that time it was clear that these numbers are not really accurate", says Mrs. Raki?.

"Certainly there is no list inflation because as you know, 18 year olds are being notified here for identity cards in the administration's records and this is the reason why the list is inflated because they have the right to vote and this is not an inflation of the list that claims a political entity from the Serbian majority. But in the four municipalities, those citizens who have the right come and are notified, especially the displaced people who are from the territory of Kosovo are coming for identity cards", says Mr. Uglanin.

The ambassadors of the United States, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, as well as the European Union office in Pristina, asked the Serbian List on Wednesday to reconsider the decision to boycott the votes in the north.

Currently, the municipalities of North Mitrovica, Zubin Potok, Leposaviç and Zveçan are led by Albanian mayors who emerged from the elections of April 23 last year, which were boycotted by Serbian political parties.

The sending of the mayors to their offices at the end of May last year was strongly opposed by groups of Serbian citizens who clashed with Kosovo police and NATO peacekeeping forces, injuring over 90 members of KFOR.

The government of Kosovo, which faced punitive measures from the European Union due to tensions in the north, agreed to organize new elections as part of efforts to de-escalate the situation with Serbia./ VOA