UNMIK/PR/402

PRESS RELEASE - 1 November 2000

KTC Briefed About Implementation of Election Results

PRISTINA—SRSG Dr. Bernard Kouchner today congratulated members of the Kosovo Transitional Council for the successful conduct of the municipal elections, saying the people of Kosovo were the real winners in the elections.

He said people around the world had applauded these elections, which displayed the political maturity of the Kosovars. He also complimented the OSCE for the smooth conduct of the elections. Dr. Kouchner said it was one of the best organized elections that he had seen. He said UNMIK might reopen the registration process to allow some of the non-Albanian minorities to register and then hold elections in the municipalities where Serbs form a majority.

DSRSG Daan Everts said the Kosovars had scored very high in this first test of democracy and flagged the various achievements during the elections, like the low percentage of conditional ballots, the high turnout of voters and the small number of complaints received by them.

All members of the KTC welcomed the way the elections were organized and the results. Dr. Ibrahim Rugova, head of the LDK, termed the elections exemplary and said people had voted freely for the first time. He congratulated all the parties and said that the LDK will work in a tolerant and cooperative manner with them.

The Serbian members also congratulated the Kosovar political parties and said the Serbs would participate actively in the municipalities where they live. They will soon propose names to the SRSG to appoint to these municipalities.

The co-heads of the Department of Local Administration (DLA), Mr. Sabri Kicmari and Ms. Blanca Antonini, explained to the members the steps to be taken for the implementation of the results.

Ms. Antonini explained that the department had, in coordination with the municipal administrators, developed a twofold working plan for this purpose. This includes facilitating the setting up and smooth functioning of the post-electoral municipal bodies, and monitoring and contributing to the gradual transfer of responsibility to the municipal assemblies.

She said to achieve this a checklist had been prepared of actions to be taken by the municipalities after the certification and publication of the final results on 6 November. The first ceremonial meeting of the municipal assemblies across Kosovo will be convened by the municipal administrators on 11 November. The assemblies may include alongside elected members those appointed by the SRSG to ensure representation of the communities living in the respective municipalities. During this session, the members will take the oath of office.

The first session of the municipal assembly is expected to be convened between seven to 15 days after the certification of final results, with the tentative target date being 15 November. The department has set 21 November as the tentative date for the election of president and deputy president of the assembly. This election will require a two third majority in the first round, the same in the second and should that not be possible, a third round of ballotting would be held for election through simple majority.  The deputy presidents will be appointed by the same date in some municipalities to provide representation to communities.

By 21 December, a tentative deadline, the department hopes that the statute and rules of procedure will be adopted, Ms. Antonini said. By the same date, three mandatory committees will have to be adopted—policy and finance, communities and mediation. The municipal assemblies will decide on other committees to be set which will oversee the work of the various departments in the administration.

As for the administration, Ms. Antonini said the following steps are proposed: a chief executive officer to be appointed by 11 December on a recommendation by the President to the assembly, with the final approval of the municipal administrator and transfer of the local community offices to the community offices in the municipalities by 1 January 2001. There is also a proposal to appoint an independent auditor next year to check the financial management systems and the capacity of the municipalities to exercise effective financial control.  She said a help desk has been established to provide rapid response to questions of a technical, legal, procedural or other nature that may arise in the process of setting up the municipal assemblies.