For a functional election system

Kosovo's electoral system in essence has remained unchanged since UNMIK's time, so when it is set up for this with Kosovo's Constitutional Framework, they exclusively make some small modalities that have taken place later around this system. It has been heard many times by connoisseurs of electoral problems that this system produces serious defects. Also, sometimes the electoral system has been the subject addressed by political subjects, but it has remained as a result of not finding a consensus among them. Major political subjects have so far gone for no interference in the electoral system. A typical example is parties which have a concentration of voting in certain cities.

If an eventual division were to take place in some electoral areas, these political subjects would lose the weight of votes from certain municipalities, given their impact on the general vote. Political subjects which have a concentration of voting in certain municipalities, as it turns out in Decan, Istog, Skenderaj, Malisheva, Podujevo, etc., appearing in elections has been much higher compared to the average at the country level, while the results coming from these municipalities have consistently expressed the convincing superiority of certain political parties such as AAK-SA, LDK, PDK and Initiative. Votes, generally in these municipalities, have been the target of doubts and criticism. In the recent local elections in the runoff, it was Pristina and Istog that were suspected of misuse of vote and manipulation, but the CEC had made a decision only in the case of Istog, while in the case of Pristina it had considered votes as currency. It was the LDK that has been insisting for years that Kosovo be divided into several electoral areas, with what the current proportional electoral system at the country level would be changed to proportional system according to electoral areas. But there are two parties that have strongly rejected that requirement, and these are PDK and LVV.

Do we need a proportional system?

A proportional system is considered necessary. If such a thing has not happened so far, it must happen from the new legislature, which will emerge from the 6 October elections. The advantages of a proportional system according to areas do not stand solely in the fact that they would balance” the suspicious” coming from certain municipalities, but also ensure a fair representation in the Kosovo Assembly, taking into account a cross-regional balance, and that MPs would have more responsibility, in the fact that they would be voters of a certain region. Now we see MP candidates running around Kosovo, to get any votes, and that makes the next MP not have his electoral base in a country's designated region, but it represents many angles and no one at the same time. So that made MPs devoid of direct responsibility towards voters, respectively, citizens. Therefore, this responsibility could not be entirely like in the majority systems, but it would be obviously more than the current electoral system. Traditionally in the seats of the Kosovo Assembly, there has never been deputy coming from certain municipalities, which has, in practice, reflected with no interest in the fate of residents there. This does not happen only to small municipalities but also to municipalities considered large.

Election threshold

The current electoral system seems to also have other defects, defects that choke internal democracies within the political subjects themselves. While a particular problem lies on the electoral threshold, which is currently 5% but, as such, is in disarray with electoral trends in Europe. Since 2007, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe had recommended through a resolution that countries not adopt electoral laws where the electoral threshold is over 3%. Even Kosovo's own political experience has proved that the current 5% threshold is high and that new initiatives are choked. So far at least two political subjects have eliminated their activity precisely from the inability to be present in Kosovo's parliamentary life, both the ORA party and the FER party. The electorate itself of these two subjects has later been divided, regardless of how party structures had been established. ORA was attached The LDK, while FER had joined Vetevendosje. A similar fate had suffered the AKR, but this party continued its activity, for which additional motivation was given after the victories it had won in Mitrovica and Gjakova, but, which had then remained part of the Kosovo Assembly as part of the coalitions. As such, he had reached his last election. And now P The DS, the DP, LB and Alternative have become part of the pre-election coalitions as well as the AKR, because the 5% threshold remains too high for all these political subjects and would easily make the parliamentary life of these subjects impossible.