Radakovic: The biggest winner of the local elections is the LDK, Self-Determination surprised in South Mitrovica

The Executive Director of the Center for the Advocacy of Democratic Culture in North Mitrovica, Dušan Radakovic, assessed that the results of the second round of local elections in Kosovo did not bring major surprises, except for the victory of Self-Determination’s candidate Faton Peci in South Mitrovica, which, he said, was unexpected.
He stated that the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) was the biggest winner of these elections, while Self-Determination achieved its greatest success precisely in South Mitrovica.

Radakovic emphasized that the results of the local elections in Pristina were not surprising, while the victory of Faton Peci in South Mitrovica was a major surprise for him.

“It was a big surprise for me that Mitrovica gave such a large victory—more than 2,000 votes—to Faton Peci. Where were those 2,000 votes in the first round? Although we know that the PDK had a coalition with all the others who supported it, such a victory with so many votes is quite surprising.

Gnjilane – a usual victory for Self-Determination; Peja – a victory for the LDK; Prizren – for the PDK; so overall, there weren’t any major deviations,” Radakovic explained.

He considers the Democratic League of Kosovo the biggest winner of this electoral process, while the greatest success for Self-Determination is its victory in South Mitrovica.

“I think the biggest winner of these elections is the LDK because it won several municipalities where victory was not expected. As for Self-Determination, it will now govern those seven municipalities. That is somewhat more than it had in the previous electoral cycle, but it still seems that the most desired result was the victory in South Mitrovica. From our perspective, as Serbs, this is not particularly welcomed, since we fear there will certainly be continued repression regarding the entire political situation in South Mitrovica.
Other cities reflect the real situation on the ground,” Radakovic said.

Radakovic explained that lower voter turnout in the second round was expected.

“In the second round, there are always fewer people voting. Even in South Mitrovica, turnout was much lower. The general perception is that voter turnout was around 30 to 32 percent.Therefore, that figure claiming that two million people live in Kosovo is definitely absurd. It has turned out that the realistic picture is around one million residents, perhaps even fewer, and that the current situation—about 30 percent turnout—represents the real image of participation.Except in Serbian municipalities, where turnout was over 55, even 60 percent,” said Radakovic.