Radakovic: I expect developments after the meeting in Brussels; the mayors could resign

Dusan Radakovic, executive director of the NGO "Center for Representation of Democratic Culture" from Kosovska Mitrovica, believes that the new round of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina scheduled for September 14 in Brussels "will definitely start something", and that, after that, the four mayors in the north of Kosovo could resign under the pressure of the international community, RTV reports.

"I expect that the elections will be called sooner. My estimates are either in mid-November, if there is support in the agreement in Brussels, or, through some other means, perhaps resignations, that they will be in mid-December," Radakovic told Tanjug.

As he stated, in the north of Kosovo there is a "big political tussle", resulting from the fact that the mayors of Leposavic and North Mitrovica come from the party of Prime Minister Albin Kurti "Self-Determination", while the mayors of Zvecan and Zubin Potok are from the party of former president Hashim Thaci, the Democratic Party of Kosovo.

"There is still no political agreement - first of all, that the Prime Minister of the temporary institutions of Pristina should invite the four mayors to his cabinet for an interview and, with the Minister of Local Self-Government, to talk about the modalities and possibilities of what to do next," Radakovic said.

According to him, the administrative instruction for the removal of the mayors in the north of Kosovo is very narrowly written.

"The only thing that the working group in charge of that instruction did was to determine the deadlines between the submission of the request, determine to whom the request is submitted, how long it takes for the ministry to respond, checking all signatures, whether the votes are acceptable, how long after that the president of the temporary Pristina institutions calls for elections and so on," Radakovic pointed out.

As he says, in order for the process to be clearer, it is necessary for some citizens, party, or group of citizens to submit to the Municipal Assembly, that is, the Assembly of North Mitrovica, Zvecan, Zubin Potok or Leposavic, a request for the removal of the mayors.

"After that, when it is accepted, 20 percent of the people who are from the same municipality, say North Mitrovica, must vote in order to enable a referendum. When those 20 percent of voters are verified, the president of the temporary institutions of Pristina calls for a referendum with the question 'Are you in favor of replacing the mayor?' After that, 50 percent plus one verified voter is needed to vote that they are in favor of replacing the mayor," Radakovic said.

According to his opinion, the whole process can last six months, or, as he says, if a referendum is held, the whole process can be completed before January or February.

He believes that the mayors will resign because the international community is also forcing them to do so.

Radakovic believes that the Assembly in North Mitrovica has legality, but not legitimacy, because 96-97 percent of citizens do not agree with its decisions.