Surlic: Opening the issue of the Referendum Law is aimed at rendering the swift return of the Serbs to institutions meaningless

All processes related to the petition for the removal of mayors in the four municipalities in northern Kosovo, and now the initiation of the referendum law, are designed to delay the election of legitimate representatives of the Serbs in northern Kosovo, according to Stefan Surlic, an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade.

He believes that by considering the adoption of the Referendum Law, Pristina is "buying time" and postponing the issue of local elections in the north until after the extraordinary parliamentary elections in Kosovo.

"The entire process with petitions and referendums is designed to prolong the ultimate goal, which is a legitimate election of Serb representatives in northern Kosovo. This is just buying time," Surlic said for Kosovo Online.

He explains that conducting a referendum on the removal of mayors in the north leads to a paradoxical situation - that more than 50% of registered voters should express support for the removal of mayors who received three to four percent support from voters.

Surlic says that if we were really to go to the final stage and demand that citizens express their opinion on the removal of mayors in a referendum, there would definitely have to be some legal framework, but, as he assesses, there are other solutions to resolve the situation.

"Let's not forget, if there is a clear political will, a solution can easily be found, namely that this agony ends with the simple resignations of mayors because it is evident that this whole process is, in fact, aimed at rendering any idea of a quick and efficient return of the Serbs to institutions meaningless and buying time until early parliamentary elections," Surlic concluded.