Rapajic: Referendum only wastes time, calling new elections would have been a better solution

Regarding the decision of the Central Election Commission to hold voting on the dismissal of mayors in four municipalities in northern Kosovo on April 21, the Program Director of the ACDC organization from North Mitrovica, Aleksandar Rapajic, pointed out that there were still numerous open questions regarding the implementation of that process, emphasizing that it would have been much simpler to declare new local elections, both for mayors and municipal assemblies.

Rapajic expressed hope to Kosovo Online that there would be no obstruction to the referendum.

"A referendum has been proposed for April 21, but this also raises many other questions. Where will the referendum take place, who will oversee the process, who will lead the entire process, and who will observe it? Will state buildings be used or not? I think there are still many open questions. I hope there will be no obstruction, although personally, I think it would have been better to declare new elections in all four municipalities, both for mayors and for the assemblies," Rapajic said.

He believes that elections are a much better solution than having citizens participate in a referendum and then in elections afterward, even though the results of that referendum are known.

When asked about the sequence of events expected in the coming weeks and the situation regarding council mandates, he replied that there was no procedure to replace councilors and that it would not be right for a number of citizens to demand the replacement of some councilors.

"Just like with mayors, the fact is that these mayors do not reflect the will of the citizens in the four northern municipalities, which is why I think the better solution would have been to call new local elections for the four municipalities in the north, both for mayors and councilors," Rapajic reiterated.

He points out that a lot of time will be lost due to the referendum until local elections, and people are dissatisfied because the situation on the ground is not being resolved.

"This way, we will waste time, first a month and a half to organize the referendum, then to call elections only for mayors, and then we will have another 45 to 60 days for mayoral elections. Time is passing, the situation on the ground is not being resolved, people are becoming increasingly dissatisfied, and we are dealing with legal technicalities," Rapajic concluded.