Kosovan local elections, 2008
Encyclopedia
The 2008 Serbian local elections in Kosovo were held on 11 May 2008, together with Serbia's parliamentary elections
and elections
in Vojvodina
. UNMIK authorities have criticized Serbia organizing elections saying only the UN can organize elections in Kosovo. Kosovo's President
Fatmir Sejdiu
accused Serbia of trying to challenge Kosovo's statehood.
There is a total of 115,712 registered voters and they were able to vote in 295 voting places. There are 157 voting places in Central Serbia
and Vojvodina
, and each of the seven major Montenegrin
cities has one, for refugees from Kosovo.
by Albanian leadership in Kosovo
, a declaration that Serbia considers illegal. This proposal for what many observers have called a de-facto partition was said to be in response to unrest
in Northern Kosovo and other Kosovo Serb areas. Establishment of Serb institutions in Kosovo is part of the "functional division" of Kosovo proposed by the Serbian government.
, Zubin Potok
, Štrpce
, Zvečan
and Novo Brdo
, where the 2007 local elections
were declared invalid due to the Serb voters' boycott; however, UNMIK insisted that it would have to organise the elections there, not Serbia, and that the date would likely not be 11 May 2008. UNMIK has no problem with the participation of Kosovo Serbs in the parliamentary election.
However, on 14 April 2008 the Election Commission announced it would hold local elections in Serb areas of Kosovo; internally displaced person
s, whether living in Kosovo or not, will be able to vote as if they were living in the municipality from which they were displaced. Minister for Kosovo Slobodan Samardžić
subsequently called on Joachim Rücker
to sanction the elections. UNMIK spokesman Alexander Ivanko reiterated that UNMIK would view all elections held without its approval as illegal and in breach of UNSCR 1244. On April 18, 2008 Joachim Ruecker, the Chief of UNMIK, said the elections would cross a “red line” if organized by Serbia.
The International Steering Group for Kosovo
has expressed its support for the UNMIK position saying it opposes the "institutional separation by ethnic lines" in Kosovo.
Kosovo's Assembly adopted a statement condemning Serbia’s plans to hold local elections in Kosovo and showing support for the position taken by UNMIK and President Fatmir Sejdiu. However, Kosovo police authorities have said they would not interrupt voting to prevent local elections. UNMIK declared the local Serb elections held in Kosovo in May 2008 null and void.
said Kosovo Serbs would form their own assembly following the elections. He argued that the Kosovo Assembly was dominated by "Albanian puppets" who would not work in the interest of the Serb minority.
Following the elections Samardžić outlined the makeup of the Kosovo Serb institutions consisting of municipal assemblies and executive councils. According to Samardžić municipal governments will act in keeping with the Serbian constitution and resolve all problems independently or in agreement with Belgrade.
UNMIK officials have said they will continue working with appointed Serb leaders declaring the local elections "illegal" and pledging not to negotiate with the elected officials. Yves de Kermabon, head of the EULEX mission to Kosovo, said he was "willing to talk to everybody" including officials elected on May 11, stressing that he would go to Northern Kosovo as soon as he found people there willing to talk. Kermabon said his reason was that he does not want the EU to be "forcibly deployed" there.
The mayor of Mitrovica condemned the formation of a parallel municipal assembly in North Mitrovica by Serbs following the election saying the institution was "illegal" as well as the elections. On June 13, 2008 a parallel assembly with 30 members, the majority from the Serbian Radical Party, was formed for Pristina
with the first session being held in a warehouse due to a lack of space. Radovan Nicic was elected president of the municipality by the assembly. Another assembly was formed in Obilic north of Pristina the same morning.
Serbian parties (SRS, DSS, SPS, NS and DS) agreed to form a parliament for Kosovo Serbs including 45 delegates, 43 from the local assemblies and two seats reserved for Romani and Muslims. Slobodan Samardžić
announced that the Kosovo Serb assembly would be formed on June 28th. He said the body would be representative not executive. The parliament shall only be transitional before direct elections. The parliament was officially scheduled on 16 June 2008 to be held in Priština on 28 June 2008, symbolically on Saint Vitus' Day
. Its official name shall be The Assembly of the Community of Municipalities of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohia. The parliamentary majority has been formed by the Democratic Party of Serbia
, Serbian Radical Party
, Socialist Party of Serbia
and Civic Initiative of Gora
. The opposition Democratic Party
supports its constitution, but will for now boycott it. The cause of restoration of parliamentarism since 1999 was specifically stated as a reaction to the recently put in act Constitution of Kosovo
and will only officialize the two separate systems which were already in act for years. It is pointed out that it is the representative body of Kosovar citizens loyal to the Republic of Serbia.
came first in 15 municipalities, the DSS has the most councilors in six, as well as various citizens' lists. The Radicals and DSS formed a coalition in the Assembly of the Community of Municipalities of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija.
Serbian parliamentary election, 2008
A pre-term parliamentary election was held in the Serbia on 11 May 2008, barely a year after the previous parliamentary election. There were 6,749,886 eligible electors who were able to vote in 8,682 voting places, as well as 157 special voting places designed for refugees from...
and elections
Vojvodina parliamentary election, 2008
Parliamentary elections were held for the unicameral Assembly of Serbia's northern Autonomous Province of Vojvodina on 11 May 2008, with a second round to be held on 25 May 2008...
in Vojvodina
Vojvodina
Vojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...
. UNMIK authorities have criticized Serbia organizing elections saying only the UN can organize elections in Kosovo. Kosovo's President
President of Kosovo
The President of the Republic of Kosovo is Head of State of the disputed Republic of Kosovo. The President of Kosovo is elected by the Assembly of Kosovo. The first post-war president, who served until his death in January 2006, was Ibrahim Rugova. His successor was Fatmir Sejdiu. When Sejdiu...
Fatmir Sejdiu
Fatmir Sejdiu
Fatmir Sejdiu is a politician from Kosovo. He was the leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo and was the first President of the Republic of Kosovo.-Early life and education:...
accused Serbia of trying to challenge Kosovo's statehood.
There is a total of 115,712 registered voters and they were able to vote in 295 voting places. There are 157 voting places in Central Serbia
Central Serbia
Central Serbia , also referred to as Serbia proper , was the region of Serbia from 1945 to 2009. It included central parts of Serbia outside of the autonomous provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina. The region of Central Serbia was not an administrative division of Serbia as such; it was under the...
and Vojvodina
Vojvodina
Vojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...
, and each of the seven major Montenegrin
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
cities has one, for refugees from Kosovo.
Background
Serbia's elections in Kosovo follow the unilateral declaration of independence2008 Kosovo declaration of independence
The 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence was adopted on 17 February 2008 by individual members of the Assembly of Kosovo acting in personal capacity and not binding to the Assembly itself...
by Albanian leadership in Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
, a declaration that Serbia considers illegal. This proposal for what many observers have called a de-facto partition was said to be in response to unrest
2008 unrest in Kosovo
The 2008 unrest in Kosovo follows Kosovo's declaration of independence on February 17, 2008. Some Kosovo Serbs opposed to secession have boycotted the move by refusing to follow orders from the central government in Pristina and attempting to seize infrastructure and border posts in Serb-populated...
in Northern Kosovo and other Kosovo Serb areas. Establishment of Serb institutions in Kosovo is part of the "functional division" of Kosovo proposed by the Serbian government.
Dispute over elections
UNMIK considers the holding of local elections in Serbia without its agreement as invalid and as a breach of UNSCR 1244. It has, however, proposed to hold local elections in the mostly Serb-populated municipalities of LeposavićLeposavic
Leposavić is a town and [Municipalities of Kosovo|municipality]] in the district of Kosovska Mitrovica of northern Kosovo. It is a part of North Kosovo, a region with at least 98%ethnic Serb majority that functions largely autonomously from the remainder of the ethnic-Albanian-majority Kosovo...
, Zubin Potok
Zubin Potok
Zubin Potok is a town and municipality in the Kosovska Mitrovica district of northern Kosovo. It is a part of North Kosovo, a region with an ethnic Serb majority that functions largely autonomously from the remainder of the ethnic-Albanian-majority Kosovo...
, Štrpce
Štrpce
Štrpce is a town and municipality in the District of Uroševac, Kosovo and Metohija.According to the 1991 census, the municipality of Štrpce had a population of around 12,800 people...
, Zvečan
Zvecan
Zvečan is a town and municipality in the Kosovska Mitrovica district of Kosovo. It is a part of North Kosovo, a region with an ethnic Serb majority that functions largely autonomously from the remainder of the ethnic-Albanian-majority Kosovo and Metohija. The municipality covers an area of , and...
and Novo Brdo
Novo Brdo
Novo Brdo is a town and municipality in the Pristina district of eastern Kosovo. The population of the municipality is estimated at 6,720 people .-History:...
, where the 2007 local elections
Kosovan local elections, 2007
Municipal elections were held in Kosovo on November 17, 2007, at the same time as elections to the Assembly of Kosovo, with a second round for the mayoral elections held on 2007-12-08...
were declared invalid due to the Serb voters' boycott; however, UNMIK insisted that it would have to organise the elections there, not Serbia, and that the date would likely not be 11 May 2008. UNMIK has no problem with the participation of Kosovo Serbs in the parliamentary election.
However, on 14 April 2008 the Election Commission announced it would hold local elections in Serb areas of Kosovo; internally displaced person
Internally displaced person
An internally displaced person is someone who is forced to flee his or her home but who remains within his or her country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the current legal definition of a refugee. At the end of 2006 it was estimated there were...
s, whether living in Kosovo or not, will be able to vote as if they were living in the municipality from which they were displaced. Minister for Kosovo Slobodan Samardžić
Slobodan Samardžic
Slobodan Samardžić is a Serbian academic and politician, and the former Minister for Kosovo-Metohija in the Government of Serbia succeeded by Goran Bogdanović.- Biography :...
subsequently called on Joachim Rücker
Joachim Rücker
Joachim Rücker is a German international civil servant, since November 2008 serving as the German ambassador to Sweden. He was named Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Kosovo and head of UNMIK from 1 September 2006 to 20 June 2008...
to sanction the elections. UNMIK spokesman Alexander Ivanko reiterated that UNMIK would view all elections held without its approval as illegal and in breach of UNSCR 1244. On April 18, 2008 Joachim Ruecker, the Chief of UNMIK, said the elections would cross a “red line” if organized by Serbia.
The International Steering Group for Kosovo
International Steering Group for Kosovo
The International Steering Group for Kosovo is an organization formed pursuant to the Ahtisaari Plan concerning the Kosovo status process...
has expressed its support for the UNMIK position saying it opposes the "institutional separation by ethnic lines" in Kosovo.
Kosovo's Assembly adopted a statement condemning Serbia’s plans to hold local elections in Kosovo and showing support for the position taken by UNMIK and President Fatmir Sejdiu. However, Kosovo police authorities have said they would not interrupt voting to prevent local elections. UNMIK declared the local Serb elections held in Kosovo in May 2008 null and void.
Kosovo Serb Institutions
Marko Jakšić a Kosovo Serb political leader and ally of Prime Minister Vojislav KoštunicaVojislav Koštunica
Vojislav Koštunica is a Serbian politician, statesman and the president of the Democratic Party of Serbia. He was the last President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, succeeding Slobodan Milošević and serving from 2000 to 2003...
said Kosovo Serbs would form their own assembly following the elections. He argued that the Kosovo Assembly was dominated by "Albanian puppets" who would not work in the interest of the Serb minority.
Following the elections Samardžić outlined the makeup of the Kosovo Serb institutions consisting of municipal assemblies and executive councils. According to Samardžić municipal governments will act in keeping with the Serbian constitution and resolve all problems independently or in agreement with Belgrade.
UNMIK officials have said they will continue working with appointed Serb leaders declaring the local elections "illegal" and pledging not to negotiate with the elected officials. Yves de Kermabon, head of the EULEX mission to Kosovo, said he was "willing to talk to everybody" including officials elected on May 11, stressing that he would go to Northern Kosovo as soon as he found people there willing to talk. Kermabon said his reason was that he does not want the EU to be "forcibly deployed" there.
The mayor of Mitrovica condemned the formation of a parallel municipal assembly in North Mitrovica by Serbs following the election saying the institution was "illegal" as well as the elections. On June 13, 2008 a parallel assembly with 30 members, the majority from the Serbian Radical Party, was formed for Pristina
Pristina
Pristina, also spelled Prishtina and Priština is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous municipality and district....
with the first session being held in a warehouse due to a lack of space. Radovan Nicic was elected president of the municipality by the assembly. Another assembly was formed in Obilic north of Pristina the same morning.
Serbian parties (SRS, DSS, SPS, NS and DS) agreed to form a parliament for Kosovo Serbs including 45 delegates, 43 from the local assemblies and two seats reserved for Romani and Muslims. Slobodan Samardžić
Slobodan Samardžic
Slobodan Samardžić is a Serbian academic and politician, and the former Minister for Kosovo-Metohija in the Government of Serbia succeeded by Goran Bogdanović.- Biography :...
announced that the Kosovo Serb assembly would be formed on June 28th. He said the body would be representative not executive. The parliament shall only be transitional before direct elections. The parliament was officially scheduled on 16 June 2008 to be held in Priština on 28 June 2008, symbolically on Saint Vitus' Day
Vidovdan
-See also:*Divinity*Daeva*Deva *Vidovdan...
. Its official name shall be The Assembly of the Community of Municipalities of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohia. The parliamentary majority has been formed by the Democratic Party of Serbia
Democratic Party of Serbia
The Democratic Party of Serbia is a political party in Serbia.-Foundation:The Democratic Party of Serbia was founded when a faction of the Democratic Party that supported its involvement in the Democratic Movement of Serbia split from the party and formed their own in 1992.Soon after the March...
, Serbian Radical Party
Serbian Radical Party
The Serbian Radical Party is a far-right Serbian nationalist political party in Serbia, founded in 1991. Currently the second-largest party in the Serbian National Assembly, it has branches in three of the nations that currently border Serbia – all former federal republics of Yugoslavia...
, Socialist Party of Serbia
Socialist Party of Serbia
The Socialist Party of Serbia is officially a democratic socialist political party in Serbia. It is also widely recognized as a de facto Serbian nationalist party, though the party itself does not officially acknowledge this...
and Civic Initiative of Gora
Civic Initiative of Gora
The Civic Initiative of Gora is a Gorani political party in Kosovo.In the legislative elections on 24 October 2004, the party won 0.2% of the popular vote and 1 out of 120 seats...
. The opposition Democratic Party
Democratic Party (Serbia)
The Democratic Party is a political party in Serbia. It is described as a social liberal or social democratic party.-Pre-war history:The Democratic Party was established on 16 February 1919 from unification of Sarajevo parties independent radicals, progressives, liberals and the Serbian part of...
supports its constitution, but will for now boycott it. The cause of restoration of parliamentarism since 1999 was specifically stated as a reaction to the recently put in act Constitution of Kosovo
Constitution of Kosovo
The Constitution of Kosovo currently refers either to the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo or to the Constitutional Framework for the Provisional Self-Government of Kosovo....
and will only officialize the two separate systems which were already in act for years. It is pointed out that it is the representative body of Kosovar citizens loyal to the Republic of Serbia.
Results
The turnout of registered voters was at 57%. Serbian Radical PartySerbian Radical Party
The Serbian Radical Party is a far-right Serbian nationalist political party in Serbia, founded in 1991. Currently the second-largest party in the Serbian National Assembly, it has branches in three of the nations that currently border Serbia – all former federal republics of Yugoslavia...
came first in 15 municipalities, the DSS has the most councilors in six, as well as various citizens' lists. The Radicals and DSS formed a coalition in the Assembly of the Community of Municipalities of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija.