Serbian list at war for Serb minority votes only

Given just this statement, Nenad Rassic from the Democratic Progressive Party (PDS), which is supporting the civic initiative of the opposition for Freedom, Justice and Survival in the upcoming elections, says the Serbian List is trying to take “the seats reserved for other minority communities in the Kosovo Assembly, providing support to specific political subjects newly formed by the ranks of the Bosniak, Roma, Ali and Egyptian communities, as well as gorane.

What is guaranteed to minorities in the Parliament?

Out of a total of 120 seats in the Kosovo Assembly, 20 are reserved for non-most communities -- 10 of them for the Serb community and another 10 for other minority communities living in Kosovo.

The Bosnian communities belong to 3 seats, the Turkish community 2 seats, representatives of the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities from a seat, as well as an additional seat for one of those communities, which wins mostly votes. One seat belongs to the Gorani community.

“With 14 deputies, the Serbian List would have two-thirds of the majority (of minority communities' votes) and you can be sure that no law could pass”, Rassic points out.

For the adoption of specific laws in the Kosovo Assembly, including constitutional changes, the support of two-thirds of minority communities' votes is necessary.

Even Duda Balje from the Bosniak Social Democrat Union (SDU), which has so far been a deputy in the Kosovo Assembly, stresses that the next period will be achieved “reisation of the Serbian List plan, so that through its voting body, it can exercise influence and bring some of the non-communal communities to Kosovo”.

The number of our population living here is not that big, so with a certain number of votes, it can be affected by the taking of political mandates. The Serbian list has had about 10,000 more votes than it needed, and by those votes it is now trying to exert an influence”, Balje stressed.

What did the last elections show?

In the last parliamentary elections, in 2019, the Serbian List had won convincing victories, and with 53,861 votes won, it had received the ten mandates for deputies, which are reserved for the Serb community.

Balje stresses that immediately after the election proclamation in early January 2021, two civic initiatives were shown by the ranks of Bosniak and Roma communities, which she believes are working for the interest of the Serbian List.

It's the Civil Initiative “United Community . Adrijana Hodjiq” from Northern Mitrovica, which is one of four Serb-dominated municipalities in northern Kosovo, as well as Gazmend Salijevic's Roma initiative from Gracanica, also this predominantly Serb municipality.

“They (Serbian List) have correctly calculated that they can produce between 3 and 4 thousand votes for this Bosnian option and one to two thousand votes for the Roma initiative. The Gorani, practically own them now for an appointed time. I think the goal is to get two-thirds of the minority votes, because this would be a great power in the Assembly”, Duda Balje points out.

The light community MP, Ademi Hoxha, has been part of the Serbian List Parliamentary Group, meanwhile for a time he has carried out the post of acting municipal body chairman Gora, operating within Serbia's system and since Kosovo authorities are considered a parallel organ.

As an example connecting with her statements, Duda Balje points out that Adrijana Hodzic, a Bosniak from Northern Mitrovica, in Ramush Haradinaj's government had been nominated to the post of Minister for Local Power Management, though from the ranks of the Bosnian community no one had proposed that position.

Hodzic had come to that position after being relieved of office Ivan Todosijevic from the ranks of the Serbian List.

Currently, Adrijana Hodzic carried out the post of the North Mitrovica municipality's sub-key, at the top of which is Milan Radojevic from the Serbian List.

However, Hodzic has sharply exposed all claims that the Serb List is behind him.

Adrijana Hodjiqi's response

No, there is absolutely no agreement between my initiative, which will deal with the issues of the Bosniak community, and the Serbian List. There is no such luxury that a political party will help another in an election process”, Hodzic claims.

According to her, she is now planning to engage independently at the central level, because the “Bosniak representatives have been very divided”.

I've been to several meetings when Bosniaks' Day was marked and I've witnessed mutual party accusations. That is why I have not approached any of the existing political parties dealing with the Bosniak community. This time around I want to be the one that will be accessible to the Bosniak community in the fight for the establishment of two Bosnian majority municipalities”, Hodzic points out.

How is the election campaign in the north under way?

She recalls that she was at the helm of the Kosovo Government's Administry Office for Northern Mitrovica and after the formation of the Northern Mitrovica municipality in 2013, has continued to operate at the local level.

We're a good example of coexistence. This is what we want to do in other municipalities as well, to share our example, which may be good not only for Kosovo, but for the entire region”, Hodzic says.

Until the publication of this text, Gazmend Salijevic from the Roma community, which has so far worked in the civil sector, has not responded to Radio Europe's free question of whether to stand behind his political subject, the Serbian List, as stated political representatives of non-partisan communities in Kosovo claim.

What is the real impact that can be expected?

Politologist Ramush Tahiri estimates that the Serbian List could not control non-Serb communities in the Kosovo Parliament, but that it would have enough power even with the ten seats reserved for the Serb community.

No shadow power can be exercised. Votes can be purchased later, manipulated with them, but so before elections, no. I see no reason for this”, consider Tahiri.

He emphasises that for the adoption of specific laws in the Kosovo Assembly is necessary, most of the two-thirds of the vote from the ranks of non-most communities, or 14 of the total 20 countries that are reserved for them.

For this reason, Aleksandar Vuciq is insisting on 10 seats of MPs reserved for the Serb community, because he says others can vote against the interests of Serbs”, Tahiri points out.
The recent elections in Kosovo were held in October 2019, following Ramush Haradinaj's resignation from the prime minister's position. In March 2020, Albin Kurti's government was voted down by the no-confidence motion.

At the time, Kosovo did not go to early elections, but Kosovo's Parliament deputies voted for the election of the government by the helm of Avdullah Hoti. But the Constitutional Court, on December 25th of 2020, brought the decision that the government's election was not in harmony with the Constitution because of Etem Arifi's vote in the government's election, which had court-cut condemnation due to misuse of subsidies.