Withdrawal of candidate in Kllokot/CEC: Does not affect the holding of the run-off

2025-11-03 14:09:16, Kosova & Bota CNA

Withdrawal of candidate in Kllokot/CEC: Does not affect the holding of the

The Central Election Commission (CEC) told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that despite one of the candidates for mayor of Kllokot having announced his withdrawal from the race, a runoff round will be held in this municipality.

The candidate for mayor of Kllokot, Sreqko Spasi? from the Civic Initiative "Serbian National Unity" announced on November 3 that he has joined the Serbian List, the party from which he was running against in the local elections in Kllokot, and has withdrawn from the November 9 race.

CEC spokesman Valmir Elezi told Radio Free Europe that the withdrawal of a candidate from the electoral process at this stage "does not affect the holding of the electoral race."

"According to the procedures and deadlines set by the CEC, the deadline for candidates to withdraw from the electoral race was September 2, 2025. The second round of elections for mayor of Kllokot continues with the names of the two candidates who won the most votes in the first round," Elezi said in a written response.

According to an announcement from the Serbian List – the main Serb party in Kosovo that enjoys the support of Belgrade – Spasi?, along with all members and advisors of this initiative, joined this party, adding that they “trust without reservations in the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vu?i?.”

According to preliminary results, in the runoff round for the local elections, Spasi? will face the Serbian List candidate, Bo?idar Dejanovi?.

Spasi? said that he wants to focus all the contribution and resources of the civic initiative on the Serbian List, which he said is "the political family that unites the Serbian people in Kosovo."

"At the same time, I, Sreqko Spasi?, would like to inform the public and all citizens of the municipality of Kllokot that I am withdrawing from the electoral race and will not participate in the second round of the elections for mayor of Kllokot to be held on November 9. With all my strength and energy, together with the former members of the 'Serbian National Unity', and now members of the Serbian List, we will dedicate ourselves to the victory of the Serbian List," the announcement said.

Radio Free Europe has attempted to contact Spasic for comment, but so far he has not responded.

Kllokot is the only municipality with a Serb majority that has gone to a runoff, as in the other nine municipalities the Serbian List has already won in the first round of local elections held on October 12.

According to the results, in the first round in Kloki, Bozhidar Dejanovi? won 893 votes or 41.38 percent of the votes, while Sreqko Spasi? won 674 votes or 31.23 percent.

The League of Kosovo said on October 28 that it would support Spasi? in the second round. This party received 73 votes in the first round. The same day, on Spasi?'s initiative, they said that November 9 "is a date that will go down in history", with the slogan "All together for a victory".

The Serbian List has welcomed Spasi?'s decision to withdraw from the race and join this entity, describing it as "evidence of maturity and political responsibility."

For Eugen Cakolli from the Democratic Institute of Kosovo, Spasic's withdrawal from the race is an electoral move "with significant political impact."

"When an independent candidate, who represented an alternative to the Serbian List, joins it on the eve of the second round, the message can be interpreted as how independent forces are being dismantled to pave the way for the complete control of a single party," Cakolli told Radio Free Europe.

According to him, this development weakens the “idea of ??a real competition” and turns the run-off round into a formality, where the outcome seems predetermined. He adds that the situation seems “suspicious” and should be “investigated.”

"More deeply than that, this action exposes the level of political influence from outside and the lack of political autonomy of local Serb communities. Moreover, while it is strange, the situation is absolutely suspicious, so it should be investigated," he said.

In the last local elections of 2021, Spasi?'s initiative also managed to enter the second round in Kllokot, but in the end the Serbian List won.

That world, before the second round, Sasa Mirkovic's Civic Initiative "People's Alliance" supported the Serbian List, although Sreqko Spasic claimed to have a "principled agreement" with it.

Sreqko Spasic was previously the mayor of Kllokot from the Serbian List, but he left this party in 2017, when his son, Strahinja Spasic, a candidate for mayor, was left without the party's support before the second round of local elections.

At that time, the Serbian List announced that its candidate for the second round was Bo?idar Dejanovi?, who in the first round had run on behalf of the “Kllokot-Vërbovc” Civic Initiative, and not with Sreqko Spasi?.

It was then announced that Dejanovi?, along with all members of his initiative, had joined the Serbian List and called on citizens to support him in the second round of the elections.

Dejanovi? then won with 50.24 percent of the vote, while Strahinja Spasi? received 49.76 percent. According to the final results of the Kosovo Central Election Commission, Dejanovi? won as a candidate of the Civic Initiative “Kllokot–Vërboc”, while Strahinja Spasi? ran on behalf of the Serbian List.

However, Dejanovi? has so far exercised the function of mayor of Kllokot as a representative of the Serbian List.

Kllokot is one of four municipalities with a Serb majority in the Anamorava region, where around 30,000 Serbs live. /REL