Jablanovic: Decision to withdraw candidacy without pressure; there are no adequate conditions for elections

The president of the Party of Kosovo Serbs, Aleksandar Jablanovic, who withdrew his candidacy for mayor of Leposavic, pointed out that this decision was not made under any pressure, but because there were no adequate conditions for elections in the north, calling on voters who were ready to vote for him  not to go to the elections in four municipalities on Sunday.

Jablanovic said at the press conference that the Party of Kosovo Serbs had been registered for the elections in November last year, and that it had not withdrawn its candidacy after the postponement of the elections, because they believed that there was a need for change in Leposavic and other municipalities in the north.

However, as he stated, over time it turned out that these elections became much more than local elections.

"Various stories have started to be told about these elections and we have come to a situation where they are deciding whether Serbia will continue its presence in the north, or whether institutions from Pristina will take over complete primacy. The reason why we invited the journalists is to announce that at today's meeting of the Main Committee of the party, we made a decision to withdraw from the election process and to invite all our citizens, sympathizers and admirers of our politics, who were ready to vote for us, not to go to the elections, because there are no adequate conditions for holding them," said Jablanovic.

He added that the elections will be held in a reduced capacity, because there are not 18 election centers and 25 polling stations, as provided by law, but only three centers in Serbian areas, one of which is in the vicinity of the police station in Leposavic, the other next to the base of the special unit in Jarinje, and the third next to the main road at the entrance to Leposavic.

Jablanovic said that such a decision will not have consequences for the party.

"We are not changing the policy. Our political opponent is the Serbian List, but that does not mean that our opponent is the state of Serbia or the Government of Serbia. Our opponent is not Aleksandar Vucic. We are fighting for change and a better way of life here locally, but we will not be able to achieve this during this election process because the citizens are afraid. There is a reluctance to go out and vote in places with the presence of a large number of members of the police and KFOR. At the same time, we have a campaign in the north, in which citizens sign a petition for the removal of special police units from the north," said Jablanovic.

He emphasized that the party decided to withdraw from the electoral process without any pressure, blackmail or coercion from anyone.

"Since November, when we ran for office, we have had neither understanding nor support from any institution from Pristina. And the ambassadors of the big countries that support this election process, did not come to the north for a single day and visit the citizens to see the atmosphere. We saw that Kurti, in his capacity as the prime minister, received a Serbian candidate from Zvecani, and after a few days he received the candidates of his movement as the leader of Self-Determination," said Jablanovic.

As he says, he does not know "on which day Kurti is the prime minister and on which day the president of Self-determination".

"I hope he can win in the north on Sunday, so let him deal with the north. He wanted the north so much, and what he is going to do with it - let him think about it carefully," said Jablanovic.

Answering questions from journalists, he repeated that there was no pressure from either Belgrade or Pristina, that the party did not have the support of institutions from Pristina, and that these elections "seem to be held in spite of someone".

"We want a victory against the Serbian List, but a clean one. We want to beat the Serbian List in elections that will never be questioned. They are not like that now," said Jablanovic and added that he wanted the Serbian List to go into political retirement and that the citizens were not satisfied with what that party offered and how it ruled.

He added that at the local level they had conflicts with the Serbian List for seven years, but that they wanted to reduce those local bickering to a political way.

He said that the situation was not under such tension, but that it could become tense.

"These elections are literally the moment that can raise the tension to a higher level. We applied for these elections in November in order to remove tensions. These elections could not give what they should give, which is a beginning for a new peace, for a relaxed situation in the north of Kosovo. The mere fact that they will be carried out with the participation of several hundred people armed with long pipes, that they will be held in the vicinity of police stations, this has only happened in Uganda and Afghanistan. That would diminish our victory," he said.

He added that the election process was "crippled" at the very beginning by the poor organization of the CEC.

"By law, we should have known the polling stations 45 days before the election. We found that out only on Tuesday. Second, the voter lists have been changed to such an extent that the decision that there can be 999 voters in one polling station is no longer valid, and now we have polling stations with 2,500 registered voters each. This was never the case anywhere in Kosovo. With some of its moves, the CEC called into question the legitimacy of the entire process," Jablanovic emphasized.

He added that this was not the first election they applied for, and that they had nothing against these elections, but that they were against the way they were held and implemented.

"We will not go to the police stations for the elections. Imagine that in 1996 or 1997, the Government of Serbia organized elections for the Albanians in Glogovac in the police station, do you believe that anyone could come to vote, regardless of whether they would get a vote. Of course he wouldn't," he underlined.

He pointed out that it was necessary for the party to be responsible towards itself, towards the citizens and towards its political future.

"The moment was easy to take over power from the Serbian List, but we will not take power from the police stations, but through elections with the support of the citizens, which will be real and not apparent," concluded Jablanovic.