Anti-unconstitutional Administrator Guide Considered for Leaving Chiefs in the North

The Administrative Guidance Ministry, which has issued Kosovo's Local Power Management Ministry for the removal of municipal mayors from office, is unconstitutional and the tendency for prolonging processes, estimates by the Kosovo Institute for Justice.

While the Kosovo Communist Association says political problems cannot be solved by sublaw acts, the Online Economy reports.

The Administrative Guide, which has been made public this week, first envisions the initiative of a petition for the dismissal of the respective mayor and its signing by 20 per cent of the municipality's voters.

The executive director at the Kosovo Institute for Justice (IKD), Ehat Miftaraj, has said that the UA for elections in the north is not in accordance with the Law.

“The IKD has said that this administrative directive is unfortunately contrary to the Constitution of Kosovo, cannot have the mandate of a mayor defined or adjusted to an administrative directive”, Miftaraj said.

According to him, this law had to be made with clear criteria, so that the Central Election Commission would implement it.

We know that we have the law for local self-government, but so that procedures, criteria and conditions for the departure of mayors through initiatives from citizens, we believe that it would have to be done by law at least, to have clear criteria, procedures so that there would be some way that even the Central Election Commission would somehow implement it”.

According to him, the government is making efforts to prevent this process before offering solutions.

The government's efforts to prelong this process rather than offer an election, which would then be supported by international partner”, he said.

The stand against Administrative Guidance has also indicated the director of the Association of Kosovo municipalities, Sahan Ibrahimi. He for Online Economy said the chairman's dismissal should have reasons.

“The Law on Local Self-government, respectively, on Article 72 of this law is very clear in terms of initiating procedures for the mayor's dismissal. The administrative guidance has not envisioned anything more in the importance of procedures than the law defines local self-government. For any initiative of a procedure to dismiss a mayor should then alibi why that mayor should be fired. You can't start a civic initiative without the alibi of why you want to dismiss the chairman, do something socially damaging, or do what he did to initiate download procedure”, Ibrahim said.

He has said that Kosovo has the Law for Local Self-Government, and as such could initiate the departure of the mayors. He declares that political situations in the north cannot be solved by underground acts.

These are three things, first of all, there must be reason why you want to initiate the dismissal of a mayor, the second who will sign the petitions needed by 20 percent of the electoral body. Then step three that by law can't make political solutions. These are the ones that we think without political agreement with the parties involved in the problem which Kosovo has been spending years I don't think there can be a solution. Political problems cannot be solved by illegal acts. It's also very important to explain to the public that if someone starts the dismissal procedure for a mayor through petition this will take time, it can't be done for a short while. The minimum was set aside a month before just collecting signatures, and then following to the CEC, it could take a month or so for Ibrahim said.