The CEC: Little Interested So far

Only eight political subjects have applied so far to participate in the autumn local elections. The last date for the application and candidate list is 16 August, and according to the Central Election Commission there will be no additional deadlines, Online Economy reports.

CEC spokesman Valmir Elezi told the Online Economy that five civic initiatives, two independent candidates and a political party have been applied. According to him, neither of these subjects is a parliamentary party.

Meanwhile, questioned about the possibility of the CEC extending the application deadline, Elez has said the deadline set by the CEC is based on the law and as such cannot be changed.

The Central Election Commission will host applications from political subjects that want to participate in the autumn elections by 16 August. We are in fair elections, so even the deadlines which are set by the CEC are based on the law on general elections and the law on local elections, so there is no possibility of having an additional deadline as regards when political subjects should submit their applications”, Elez said.

Also, Elez announced that the Central Election Commission will make verification of candidates if they are in line with Article 29 of the law on general elections in co-operation with other institutions, depending on the area of responsibility covering them.

The Central Election Commission, to make the verification of candidates competing in elections, will co-operate with various institutions -- that is, with the aim of verifying candidates if they are in line with Article 29 of the law on general elections. In this direction, the CEC will co-operate with the PZAP, the KDR, the Foreign Ministry, the Interior Ministry, the Defence Ministry, AKI and the Kosovo Customs, so to ask these institutions, if the persons who are submitted by the political subjects to be certified are in line with Article 29, depending on which area of responsibility is covered by these institutions”, Elez said.

On the other hand, the CEC is continuing to accept applications to register as voters outside Kosovo.

According to CEC data, 2,646 applications have been accepted by Friday, while 2,461 and 185 others have not, because they have not met the legal criteria. The registration deadline ends on August 18th.

“The CEC is continuing to expect applications to be registered as voters outside Kosovo. The deadline set by the CEC is August 18th. So, by this time we are expecting applications to be registered as voters outside Kosovo, and as it is known all those citizens who manage to register successfully as voters outside Kosovo will be able to vote via post at a later stage that begins on September 15th, while the ballotes must be accepted by the CEC by October 15th”, Elez said.