Pavkovic: Changes in the voter list are an attempt to influence election results

Director of Strategy at the Center for European Policies, Milos Pavkovic, stated that the changes in the voter list ahead of the local elections in Kosovo—explained as the “activation of the address system”—represent an attempt at electoral engineering and indirect interference in the organization, and thus the outcome, of the elections.

“It is evident that the aim is to provide the best possible position for Albanian political actors, and the worst possible position for Serbian political representatives, primarily the Serb List. This is clearly a continuation of institutional pressure on the Serbs, in order to further diminish their rights, discourage them from participating in political processes, and prevent them from having a chance to be relevant political actors,” Pavkovic told Kosovo Online.

The Serb List announced yesterday that it had submitted a complaint to the Election Complaints and Appeals Panel because in numerous polling stations they have neither members of polling boards nor chairpersons. Pavkovic noted that the CEC’s decisions regarding polling boards also represent a form of institutional pressure.

He said it is obvious that the idea is to reduce the number of polling boards chaired by the Serb List, thereby indirectly weakening its position while strengthening that of Albanian political parties.

“And this fits into the overall concept where the Serb List is treated as a hostile structure, as unwelcome. We also saw that no MP from the Serb List was elected as Deputy Speaker of the Assembly. Thus, there is an overtly hostile stance toward the Serb List, and Self-Determination (Vetëvendosje) underscores it at every opportunity—from the CEC to the Kosovo Assembly. Everywhere, the Serb List is viewed with mistrust, and efforts are made to strip it of, or reduce, all the opportunities available to it under the law,” Pavkovic concluded.