No Serbian party dare challenge Serbian List

The Central Election Commission, on Thursday, at 24 o'clock, has wrapped up the application of political subjects for the 19 May elections and within that deadline, the Kosovo Democratic Party, the Vetevendosje Movement and the Serbian List have been submitted.

Serbian political development acquaintance Randjel Nojrik, speaking of Radio Free Europe, appreciates the disappointing situation in which, apart from the Serbian List, no other political subject of Kosovo Serbs was presented to join the race for the heads of the country's four northern municipalities, Northern Mitrovica, Leposaviq, Zubin Potok and Zvecan.

“existing Serbian political subjects that are prepared and ready at any moment for the election to come up. But what happened in past local elections in northern Kosovo has been a clear message to all, that in fact, no one would dare oppose the Serbian List, either to confront them or to have another opinion of them”.

The biggest “Porossia is what happened to Oliver Ivanovic and the campaign against him, when he was announced as mayoral candidate, but later, when he had continued his fight. It has been a clear message to all Kosovo Serbs, especially in the north, that it is not worth opposing such power. What's very important is that democracy here is dead and it doesn't exist”, Norik stressed.

Rejecting Serbian Political Subjects

Days ago, government of Serbia Office for Kosovo chief Marko Djurovic has said the Serbian List is a monolith representative of Kosovo Serbs and as an official Belgrade project unites all Serbs. According to him, Kosovo Serbs must choose, be with the state of Serbia or against it.

In Kosovo, either you are for your state of Serbia or you don't want to be in this state”, Djuric has said.

In many cases, Belgrade authorities have called opponents of the Serbian List as well as private Serb “”. Representatives of the Serbian List have used the same rhetoric.

The official Belgrade policy and support only for the Serbian List, as well as the failure to solve cases of killings of Serbian politicians in northern Kosovo, has led other Serbian political subjects to reject participation in the race for mayors of four Serb municipalities.

Ksenija Bozovic, from civic initiatives “Liria, Democracy, Justice”, the subject of this policy which has previously led Serbian politician Oliver Ivanovic, tells Radio Free Europe that the reasons for not participating this political subject in elections for the heads of four municipalities in the north are uncertainty and the lack of conditions for free elections. According to her, the rhetoric of the Serbian List is similar to that of official Belgrade.

This is not at all a political discurs, but it's exactly the rhetoric repeating itself. We have highlighted this in previous elections. During the pre-election campaign, we have shown what threats we are dealing with. But no one has reacted. We have seen as well as the OSCE, as an international organisation responsible for monitoring elections, has done nothing about the matter”.

We've also filed a lawsuit. From the previous election process until today, no one has considered it and no one has informed us of what has been done. We have the murder of Oliver Ivanovic. We've had another mayor's murder before. This is serious stuff. Nobody wants to give up their lives. These are terrible things, but until today no perpetrators of any work” have been caught, Bozovic said.

Slobodan Petrovic, chairman of the Independent Liberal Party, tells Radio Free Europe that even in northern municipalities there are no minimum conditions for elections and responsible for the situation, he makes the Serbian List. For more, according to him, there was earlier the killing of a candidate for this municipality's mayor, Dimitrije Janiqievic. According to him, nothing has been done for the capture and righteousness of the workers of the work.

Even in elections that have been last period, they (Serbian List) have voted themselves, counted them, and done what they wanted. We've had a chance to see this. Those who monitor and lead the election process have greater responsibility than anyone else. But it is a fact that it is now clear that at the moment there are no basic conditions for any kind of organised and legitimate campaign for any other political option, besides that of the Serbian List”, Petrovic stressed.

Uncertain and Playful With Belgrade

Meanwhile, Bozovic says neither before nor after announcing early elections for mayors in northern Kosovo, no one has guaranteed other Serbian political subjects for their security.

“Political Liders and other political options that are part of Kosovo's political life, I'm mainly talking about Serbian ones, no one has braved them, no one has shown interest in giving them the courage that they can stand up for elections and that someone will guarantee security”, Bozovic said.

On the other hand, the Serbian List, except for the municipality of Zubin Potok, in three other municipalities, has the same candidates for mayors, who have resigned from those posts in late November last year.

The recogniser of political developments, Noijk, says such a thing is clear about the motives the Serbian List and its representatives compete with.

“They are important and personal motives. All these representatives, they have done the job quite positively towards Belgrade, and the latter has again listed them, either way, as a reward for their work and political activity in the previous mandate. In addition to political motives, there are personal motives, even of candidates from the Serbian List, both of Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq”, Nojrik stressed.

Early elections in northern Mitrovica, Leposaviq, Zubin Potok and Zvecan, have been announced after the mayors of these four Serb majority municipalities, on November 26th last year, had resigned because of the Kosovo Government's decision on the 100 per cent tax for products imported from Serbia.