Andric Rakic: Rejection of petitions shows that the process intended to lead to new elections in the north is being prolonged and sabotaged

Program Manager of the non-governmental organization New Social Initiative, Milica Andric Rakic, says for Kosovo Online that, judging by the previous approach of local institutions in the north, there will be significant difficulties in implementing the administrative instruction for initiating petitions for the removal of mayors, and points out that municipal assembly presidents do not have the authority to reject the demands of a group of citizens, nor do they have the power to influence how they will be formulated.

Regarding the announcement by the President of the Assembly of the Municipality of North Mitrovica, Nexhat Uglanin, on Tuesday, that the request of a group of citizens to initiate a petition for the removal of Mayor Erden Atic had been rejected, our interviewee points out that everything seems to be done to prolong and sabotage the process intended to lead to new elections in the north.

"By all accounts, after two days of clarification about what happened in the institutions, I can only say that it seems that the request was not actually rejected, but an additional document was requested to authorize the chairpersons to register the initiative group for the petition. However, in general, the approach of institutions to this issue shows that there will still be significant difficulties in implementing the administrative instruction", Andric Rakic said.

She recalled yesterday's information from the Central Election Commission, which stated that they had received a request to confirm whether the initiators were indeed registered in the municipalities of North Mitrovica, Leposavic, and Zubin Potok, and that additional information had been requested to be forwarded to the initiators.

"I can only conclude that the request was not rejected, but Uglanin used a word that is not suitable for describing what happened. By all accounts, and considering the explanations the initiators received, they were told that they could not be registered with the CEC because, at least in my interpretation, some document is missing that should serve as a kind of authorization for the chairpersons to register them. Therefore, according to the Administrative Instruction and the subsequent steps that have taken place, the president of the municipal assembly does not have the authority to reject the request or influence how the request will be formulated", Andric Rakic stated.

Speaking about potential international pressures, especially after yesterday's statement by the US Ambassador to Kosovo, Jeffrey Hovenier, who said he expected the Kosovo Government to implement the administrative instruction and allow all citizens to exercise their democratic rights, Andric Rakic says that pressures can be expected to expedite the process.

"My assessment is that the international community because they have been signaling this for a long time, does not prefer the petition as an option. It is not something they want to see because it takes a long time. This initial approach of the institutions shows that it can prolong and sabotage at every step. I assume that their pressures will be aimed at the quickest possible resignations of mayors, after perhaps the potential start of signing. I assume they will not risk the petitions potentially failing or being successful in some municipalities and not in others, and that the second step where 50 percent of citizens need to vote will be sought. I think the international community will try to avoid those scenarios because they are really very problematic to implement in such an atmosphere", Andric Rakic stated.