Is a regular election process under way without Republika Srpska List?

Kosovo's northern Serbs are expected to not participate in local elections, to be held on April 23rd in northern Kosovo. The extraordinary elections for the mayors of northern Mitrovica, Leposaviqi, Zvecan and Zubin Potok are held after Serbian List leaders resigned after the Kosovo government's decision to implement the process of reregistering vehicles from Serbian license plates to Kosovo plates. The Serbian list, the largest party leading Kosovo Serbs, has announced it will not participate in local elections, due to “consequences of continued institutional violence”, which “implements the regime of Albin Kurtin”, has declared the Serbian List. “First of all, due to the failure to meet our clear demands, which were the reason why we left Kosovo institutions, the formation of the Serbian Communists Association and the withdrawal of all special forces from the north of Kosovo”, said in the report of the Republika Srpska List.

The deadline for submitting candidacys expired on 22 March.

The Kosovo Central Election Commission has indicated that there are 11 candidates from four political subjects, of whom only two are of the Serb community, but none from the Serb List. According to the CEC, the number of citizens who have voting rights is about 45 thousand.

Kurti sees Belgrade's influence

For Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti's refusal to participate in local elections is <x0 per cent of Belgrade's control over the party and of continuing intervention in Kosovo's internal affairs”. The prime minister said the elections in the north will be held and “anyone who intends to violate their maintenance will face the force of law”. “Political Pluralism and the right to vote freely and without obstacles to the Serb community are necessary. Anyone who follows to violate this fundamental right has nothing else to expect but to respond to our institutions by force of law”, Kurti said.

According to him, Kosovo's “institutions will offer security to citizens in the north indiscriminately”. ” I am convinced on the basis of our state bodies and institutions that I strongly believe are offering all conditions and measures to make the success of this process. I call on citizens in the four municipalities in the north to come out and vote freely for the candidates for chairman”, Prime Minister Kurti said at a parliamentary session.

Serbia backs Serb non-participation on Serbian List

Serbia's stance on these elections was once again made clear by Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq. Serbs will not participate in the upcoming local elections in four municipalities in northern Kosovo, and that government formed after the Pristina process “will not have legitimacy”, he has said.

The “Kurti will run North Mitrovica from April 24th, and just think of those authorities and democracy and legitimacy, with 2 percent of Albanians living there. It will be bad for Serbs, as under occupation, it will be, so people are concerned. What can they do? What am I supposed to do? Shall I send you tanks? I can't defeat NATO, and I don't want us to die. I want things resolved in peace, to go towards normalisation”, Vuciq said, broadcast RTS.

From the time of its founding in 2013, the list of Srpska, which has the backing of official Belgrade, has received over 90 per cent of the vote from the Serb community in almost all Kosovo elections, local or central.

NGOs: Election development fragile

European Union observers repeatedly through reports of the successful election processes assessments have suggested that the Republika Srpska List has “monized political life among Kosovo Serbs”.

The non-governmental organisation Democracy in Action (DnV) has said the current circumstances cannot organise and hold elections in northern Kosovo, in line with the standards for free elections. According to the organisation, which consistently monitors election processes in Kosovo, the situation in northern municipalities, Northern Mitrovica, Leposaviq, Zvecan and Zubin Potok is fragile”.

“In northern Mitrovica and Zubin Potok, where the Serb community makes up over 90 per cent of the population, no candidate from the Serb community has been registered. Democracy in Action estimates this situation could undermine the legitimacy of the institutions that will emerge from the elections, as it does not guarantee fair representation of the Serb community”, a public response to this organisation is said. In response it also says that due to the resignations of Serbian community election officials, the CEC is facing challenges to the necessary preparations.

Why do northern Serbs leave institutions

Serbs in the north have resigned collectively from Kosovo institutions in November last year, including mayors, as a sign of dissatisfaction with a Kosovo government decision to reregister Serbian illegal license plates in RKS. The extraordinary elections for Kosovo's 23 April north were scheduled to be held on December 18th of last year, but Kosovo institutions were forced to postpone them, due to incidents and tensions in the north, and the international community's calls. European Union officials and ambassadors of the QUINT countries have expressed regret over why the Serbian List, which enjoys the support of official Belgrade, has not used the right to participate in this election. /DW/