Election expected in northern municipalities, Parliament starts with procedure to replace MPs

Due to disagreement with the Kosovo Government's decision on license plates, List Srpska decided to issue all Kosovo institutions, including the assembly, municipalities to which it leads, police, courts and prosecutors.

Yesterday, the 10 deputies of the Republika Srpska List have handed over mandates to the Kosovo Assembly, giving up being Kosovo's Parliamentary deputies.

Lawyer Ehat Miftaraj and former CEC head Valdete Daka have indicated what will happen away.

Miftaraj said the CEC should propose in the country the people most voted by Republika Srpska after the 10 MPs who have resigned.

“Based on laws is that the Serbian List in the last elections has received all mandates from the votes of Serbian citizens, so that under the law, the CEC needs to have from the ranks of this party to propose in the assembly the people who can meet these countries, always if the same have the will to take those positions. If they have will, these positions remain incomplete, but in later stages the possibility of them taking those positions is not ruled out, if there is political will from the Serbian List”, Miftaraj said.

The former head of the Central Election Commission, Valdete Daka, pointed to the process of how the replacement of MPs takes place.

The “they are 10 of Kosovo's 120 deputies and they undergo the replacement procedure, so the chairman of the assembly submits the request to the president, the president then takes it to the CEC and the CEC replaces them with the next and same-sex deputies while she does. The moment there is no such thing as replacing candidates from other subjects always considering these are deputies who have been competing for reserved seats for Serbs in parliament, then going for others. But these are procedures, it's a little bit like ping pong because this now goes from president to president then to CEC, the CEC turns the same order back to the president and the assembly, then they are required to give the oath, and if they give the oath in a certain term, I don't know right, then it is considered that they have not been appointed and yet the same procedure” began from the beginning, he said.

Daka's Miftaraj denied the possibility that these mandates would return to the resigned deputies, in case they becomepisman.

Kosovo Parliament Speaker Glauk Konjufca said yesterday that the resignation of ten Serbian deputies would follow the first legal procedures.

I will address the president, and then other procedures say the presidency is addressed to the Central Election Commission, and then the CEC answers with parliamentary proposals coming from the same list. If they refuse, the procedure is repeated until we complete the seats in the country by the Serb minority”, he said.

Northern municipal mayors' resignations

The resignations have also given the mayors of Serb majority municipalities -- northern Mitrovica, Leposaviq, Zubin Potok and Zvecan. The northern mayor's letters were accepted yesterday by MAPL.

For Express that, Ariani Abazi from this ministry confirmed, until he said they are in communication with relevant institutions.

During the day, at the Ministry of Management of Local Power we have accepted the resignations of the heads of municipalities, North Mitrovica, Leposaviq, Zubin Potok and Zvecan. We are in communication with all relevant institutions for further steps under the laws in force”, Abazi said.

That the elections should be announced in this situation, lawyer Ehat Miftaraj says.

“In relation to municipalities in which Serbian mayors have resigned, under a Constitutional Court decision it is considered that these resignations have political effect, so Kosovo's president in co-operation with the Election Commission would have to meet as soon as possible within the 45-day legal deadline to announce elections in these municipalities”, Miftaraj told Express.

So said former CEC head Valdete Daka.

“As far as mayors should go to the elections and legal terms have already begun to flow and elections should be announced in these municipalities”, Daka said.

Meanwhile, the Central Election Commission has said they will meet constitutional and legal obligations for organising these elections after they are announced by President Osmani, but do not have a budget.

The Central Election Commission will meet constitutional and legal obligations for organising these elections after they are announced by the president of the Republic of Kosovo. The CEC will host the election announcement to begin with their intensive preparations. As in any other election process, the CEC first approves the operational plan, in which all activities that must be realised for organising these elections are listed. These are unplanned elections, so the CEC has no budget. In such cases, as in the past, the CEC prepares the demand for Kosovo Government with the planned sum”, CEC spokesman Valmir Elezi told Express.

The election issue has also been declared by the presidency.

President Osmani's media adviser for Gazeta Express has indicated procedures that should be consumed to announce elections in northern municipalities.

“Legislation in force and practice clearly define the procedure for declaring extraordinary elections in cases when municipal mayors resign from their post. The president of the Republic of Kosovo takes the necessary actions, including consultations with political subjects, as well as the election declaration, following the official announcement by the Ministry of Management of Local Power (MAPL) for the resignation of mayors. So far, such an announcement has still not been accepted by Presidential Office”, Cupina said.