Gogic: There is no legal basis to eliminate the Serb List from the electoral race in Kosovo

Political scientist Ognjen Gogic, commenting on the warning that Pristina is trying to sabotage the participation of the Serb List in the elections in Kosovo, confirmed that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and the Self-Determination Movement undoubtedly want to eliminate this party from the electoral race, but he emphasizes that there is no legal basis for this.

Gogic points out that Pristina cannot simply deny the Serb List, or its representatives, their active political rights.

"It is undeniable that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Self-Determination would like to eliminate the Serb List from the electoral race to showcase this as their new achievement. However, this is not entirely feasible, or rather, there is no legal basis for the prohibition of the Serb List's activities, or for denying its representatives their active political rights," Gogic told Kosovo online.

The political scientist explains that the participation of parties and candidates is decided by the Central Election Commission (CEC), emphasizing that only it can, based on a court decision, decide to deny someone the opportunity to be part of the electoral race.

He notes that it is not enough for one executive authority to demonize a political party, emphasizing that there must be a legal process where it would be determined that the Serb List or individuals from its ranks, in their actions, violate the Constitution, and that this would be the basis for banning their participation in elections and political life in Kosovo.

Even in that case, he notes, they would also have the right to a "legal remedy."

"All this cannot be achieved in this short period that remains until the elections, so it will probably not be possible to ban the Serb List from participating in the elections," Gogic observes.

According to him, the best opportunity for Self-Determination to exclude the Serb List from political life in Kosovo was after the incident in Banjska.

"That was the best opportunity for Self-Determination when the then Vice President of the Serb List, Milan Radoicic, took responsibility for that attack. But, when that was not a sufficient basis to ban the political activity of the Serb List in Kosovo, there is now even less reason for that, so this party will most likely have the opportunity to participate in the elections," he concluded.