UNMIK's successful convening of municipal elections on 28 October 2000 was, arguably, the Mission's most important achievement of the year. It not only reflected the specific arrangements for holding the poll, but it was also the result of 18 months of democratization work and institutional development by UNMIK's Institution-Building Pillar run by the OSCE. As a result, the people of Kosovo exercised their suffrage in a free and fair manner for the first time in a decade.

For the 2000 vote, an OSCE/UN Civil Administration Joint Registration Task Force registered some 1 million voters and certified 39 political parties, coalitions, citizens' initiatives and independent candidates. A newly-established Central Election Commission drew up election rules and oversaw their compliance. A Kosovo-wide voter education campaign explained the responsibilities and workings of democratic suffrage. Voter turnout was almost 80 per cent.

The 2001 Kosovo-wide election will use essentially the same structures. The focus is on applying the lessons then learned.

Applying election lessons

The formula agreed with Kosovo leaders for the 2001 elections features a single constituency, proportional representation, open party lists and 1 January 1998 voter eligibility criteria. Under the Constitutional Framework (see p. 17) registered parties and other political groups will compete for 100 seats in the future Assembly. In addition, minority communities together can count on a further 20 seats allocated as follows: Kosovo Serbs, 10; the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities, 4; the Bosniak community, 3; the Turkish community, 2; and the Gorani community, 1. The Permanent Council of the OSCE has budgeted 21.6 million euros to prepare the poll.

Led by UNMIK's Institution-Building Pillar (OSCE), a planning task force developed a detailed operational plan to meet the many challenges involved in setting up 1,700 polling stations-some 300 more than in October 2000. With the approval of the FRY Government, a still-to-be-determined number of polling stations will be set up in Montenegro and Serbia proper. Parties and political groups taking part must apply by 20 July. The list of candidates will be published in August. International observers, together with selected Yugoslav NGOs, will be invited as monitors.

Women candidates prepare to participate in political life-an UNMIK election priority. (Photo: Lubomir Kotek)

UNMIK meanwhile reconstituted the membership of the Central Election Commission (CEC) with nine local and three international experts, and, as last year, with the DSRSG for the Institution-Building Pillar as its Chair. The CEC adopts rules of procedure, approves electoral rules on the code of conduct and the certification of political entities. As in 2000, these will ban "the language of hatred", require advance collection of supporters' signatures, pay deposits and require inclusion of women candidates. The CEC itself also reconstituted the Election Complaints and Appeals Sub-Commission along with the basis for it to adjudicate all complaints and appeals on violations of the electoral process.

Recognizing the non-participation of Kosovo Serbs and other minorities in the October 2000 election as a significant shortcoming, UNMIK is committed this time to ensuring that members of all national communities take part. This means reaching out to the maximum number of people registering, some 100,000 inside Kosovo, so that they have the opportunity to vote. OSCE itself is organizing voter registration teams to visit minority enclaves where potential voters lack freedom of movement.

Out-of-Kosovo registration and voting, which promises to be even more complicated in 2001, will be assisted by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and (in Serbia) by the Serbian Commissariat for Refugee Affairs.

While encouraging all groups to exercise their suffrage, UNMIK and the international community are making intense efforts especially to convince the Kosovo Serb community to engage in the political process. The Institution Building Pillar DSRSG visited both Belgrade and Kosovo Serb communities calling on Kosovo Serbs (who boycotted the 2000 election) to register themselves and their parties. An information campaign carries a clear message that registration can be disassociated from an election itself since it leaves the option of voting open. In line with that, FRY President Kostunica himself now urges Kosovo Serbs to register. Nevertheless, the seat for a Kosovo Serb in the CEC continues to be temporarily vacant.

Another UNMIK concern is that Kosovo-wide elections are likely to focus on nationalist issues prone to evoking ethnic sentiment. Multi-ethnic participation thus requires OSCE, KFOR and UNMIK Police to take greater security measures. They have also reassessed the centres used in October 2000 that suffered long queues.

In addition to the direct preparations for the elections, the Institution- Building Pillar is continuing its efforts to consolidate the progress of last year in preparing the political parties. Practical political skills development includes orientation on the relationship between the legislative and executive, as well as the role of the opposition. Leaders of Kosovo's political parties took part in reconvened Political Party Consultative Fora (PPCF) for discussing issues of current concern.

Democratization and Governance

Continuing one of the international community's most concerted and sustained efforts to implant principles and best democratic practice-not only to the political practitioners of Kosovo, but also the entire population-the UNMIK Institution-Building Pillar supports the development of political parties and the media, works with NGOs to promote public interest groups, and trains civil, judicial and police personnel.

Political party and public interest development

OSCE seminar for political parties furthers their understanding of election procedures (Photo: Lubomir Kotek)

To help political parties both organizationally and in developing their political platforms for the 2000 election, OSCE opened ten Political Party Development Centres.Their assistance, which continues for the 2001 election, included help in drawing up candidates' lists, training for party activists in public and press relations, and material support for smallest entities having few resources of their own. OSCE is currently establishing a Political Party Capacity Building Programme helping to integrate Kosovar parties and party associations into European structures.

To raise awareness and promote inclusion of women in political life, an OSCE book Women in Politics, launched on International Women's Day, highlights the distinctive contribution women can bring to political and social processes. With every third candidate required under election rules to be a woman, OSCE organized roundtables and conferences, and provides special training for female contestants to prepare them for their new role.

To prepare for the 2001 election, the Institution-Building Pillar is training members of each Municipal Election Commission. For those already elected to Kosovo's Municipal Assemblies, the Pillar's Post-Election Municipal Assembly seminars trained 600 Assembly members.

To help overcome the post-conflict legacy of violence and distrust, the Institution-Building Pillar supports a wide array of NGOs that in turn promote public interest groups considered vital to the emergence of a civil society. This creates a counterweight to the narrow interests of identity-based groups. OSCE's nine NGO Resource Centres particularly support NGOs working on human rights, reconciliation, empowerment of ethnic communities, and women. Nine Community Centres in mixed and areas, including five in Kosovo Serb enclaves, are helping build confidence among minority communities by allowing their participation in civil society.

UNMIK's support for NGOs led to the creation of Kosovo's first chamber of commerce. UNMIK technical assistance enables its members to receive management training and participate in financial planning programmes.

Media Development

Training of journalists helps create responsible media (Photo: Lubomir Kotek)

By mid-2001, UNMIK's promotion of a free, balanced and diverse media had transformed the journalistic and broadcast scene from a monolithic voice that held little sway in mid-1999 into a vibrant arena that gave access to a wide array of information. Thanks to the emergence of numerous newspapers, weeklies and magazines, dozens of radio stations and three Kosovo-wide TV stations, a more informed public opinion, more in line with democratic society, is developing.

On the broadcasting front, the Institution-Building Pillar (OSCE) organized the Kosovo Terrestrial Transmission Network comprising four radio channels and three television programmes. Between them they reach 60 per cent of the population.

UNMIK's revival of Radio TV Kosovo (RTK) as the sole public service broadcaster and its recent establishment as a legal entity gave Kosovo a medium providing non-partisan information, free from political interference and state control. The regulation establishing RTK requires it to give a voice to all communities.

The Institution-Building Pillar contributes to the emergence of a media reflecting Kosovo's heterogeneity by encouraging both Albanian and other ethnic community language media through a programme of donor-supported training and small grants. As part of this effort, OSCE also organizes the distribution of Serbian language newspapers and magazines from the FRY to the Kosovo Serb enclaves.

Journalistic standards generally are being raised through upgrading and re-training, with over 720 Kosovar journalists trained to date. OSCE also collaborates with the University of Pristina to develop a post-graduate degree in journalism.

Alongside these technical and commercial developments, it was also necessary to bring accountability to Kosovo's burgeoning media scene. Setting up the office of the Temporary Media Commissioner (TMC) in June 2000 was thus an important landmark. Under the Constitutional Framework, the post-election arrangements for self-government foresee its tasks taken over by an Independent Media Commission. Meanwhile an Interim Media Commission will replace the office of the Temporary Media Commissioner.

An independent body, the TMC established key ground rules, including a set of regulations enacted to help fight defamation and hate speech-making editors liable for what they printed, for example.

In areas of libel, slander and hate speech the Commissioner levies fines for infringements of a Temporary Media Code, whose continuance both the TMC and OSCE subsequently recommended for lack of a Kosovo community-initiated alternative. To ensure compliance with print broadcast codes, OSCE monitors the media on a daily basis and provides a systematic evaluation of their adherence.

Forging democratic-based norms

UNMIK's Institution-Building Pillar has also been responsible for training the first post-conflict generation of civil, judicial and police personnel in the skills needed to administer a modern state according to European norms.

The Pillar's Institute of Civil Administration (ICA) trains senior and mid-level civil servants from municipal and central administrative departments, both in and outside of Kosovo. ICA computer-based courses cover topics essential for modern public management-from law and public finance to human resource management and rural development. Project planning and management seminars target members of municipal policy committees and senior staff from municipal departments.

"The Kosovo Judicial Institute Library supports Kosovo's judges and prosecutors in unfamiliarareas of applicable law" (Photo: Lubomir Kotek)

The OSCE-established Kosovo Judicial Institute (KJI) trains Kosovo judges and prosecutors in areas hitherto not emphasized, e.g. international human rights law, juvenile justice, international humanitarian law, and domestic violence. KJI workshops on property rights are a key step in disentangling the complex legal issues surrounding private and commercial property ownership. Training on the new Code of Criminal Procedure began in mid-2001.

The Kosovo Law Centre is a legal think-tank devoted to supporting the development of the rule of law. The recently inaugurated Criminal Defence Resource Centre (CDRC) helps ensure fair prosecution of ethnically- and politically-motivated crimes, especially those involving alleged violations of international humanitarian law. The Centre provides legal expertise for individual cases to help ensure the rights of accused are upheld in criminal proceedings and that international human rights standards are applied.

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