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| United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo | UNMIK news No. 112 |
| Election 2001: Campaign starts this week | |
| With voter registration successfully completed, Kosovo is moving into the final stage in preparing itself for the 17 November Assembly election: on Wednesday, 3 October, the election campaign officially begins. This is 45 days before the polling day. To mark the launch, events will be held on the evening before all across Kosovo with local political representatives, members of the Municipal Election Commissions. In Pristina, political leaders and others have been invited to a launch ceremony at OSCE headquarters at 5 p.m. on 2 October, which will be hosted by Deputy SRSG, Ambassador Daan Everts. Also on 3 October, the existing JIAS departments officially cease to exist. Their Kosovo Co-Heads will be on a paid leave until the election. The daily affairs of the former departments will meanwhile be run by international officers-in-charge. Once elected, the Assembly will begin to establish Kosovo's provisional self-government which will consist of nine ministries, thus replacing the JIAS structure altogether. These ministries, however, will encompass all the functions of the previous 20 departments. During the registration process, more than one million electors were registered. This significantly exceeds the number of people on the Voters' List for the last year's local elections, which totalled some 900,000 voters. Over 170,000 of those registered this year are Kosovo non-Albanians. Altogether this year, almost 350,000 people in Kosovo and outside visited combined Voter Services and Registration Centres. They included those who were registering for the first time. Within Kosovo, more than 175,000 people went to the centres to correct their personal details and be allocated a Polling Centre. A further 20,000 persons have so far been deemed to eligible to cast their votes by mail. All voters will have 26 certified political entities to choose from. These entities contesting the election will try to convince the electorate to vote for them and their platforms. The electorate must decide which entities meet their expectations for the future of Kosovo, which are making realistic campaign promises that they can deliver on and which are just saying what the public wants to hear. For example, any party offering independence would be pledging something it will have no authority or power to act upon. Concrete ideas to better the situation of the daily lives of the people of Kosovo, and that can also realistically be implemented, should be taken more seriously than empty rhetoric when deciding who to vote for, UNMIK officials urge. A true success has been the participation in the registration process of the Kosovo Serbs. Last year, they felt that conditions were not right for them to take part either in registration or the municipal elections. This year, most Kosovo Serbs decided to register but are waiting to decide whether they will participate in the election, citing concern about the living conditions for them in Kosovo, such as security. UNMIK regards it as a positive sign that Kosovo Serbs decided to form a citizens' initiative called Return (Povratak) to contest the election. With some seats set aside for them and the seats they can also win, Kosovo Serbs will have the chance to have a significant say in how Kosovo will be governed. The participation of Serbs in the Assembly is considered by the international community as an essential step for bringing about reconciliation and peaceful co-existence in Kosovo. Only with the active participation of all people in Kosovo, will the Assembly be a true democratic body that provides for the well-being of all people in Kosovo. As Ambassador Everts noted, "This is a very important step. It is a signal that the Kosovo Serbs want to be part of the democratic process here. It is also a signal to Kosovo's other communities, and especially the Albanian community, that they want to engage in a more productive dialogue." The international community is determined to build a true democracy in Kosovo. The forthcoming election is a major step in that direction. |
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Why the power supply is not stable? |
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| There were two reasons why
power shortages persist in Kosovo: history and money, Andy Bearpark,
Deputy SRSG for Reconstruction and Economic Development told the press
in Pristina last Thursday. "The history is that the power system which provides the power within Pristina and throughout Kosovo was designed as part of an interconnected system in what was then Yugoslavia," he said. For example, if the Kosovo power plant for some reason had become non-functional, electricity was provided from other parts of the country. It was no longer so, although the FRY authorities "were remarkably generous and sending us power, which they had no legal obligations to do, when we we not having power", he added. Another way to provide electricity when there were power cuts was to buy it, but buying it cost millions of Deutsche Marks. That money used to come from taxpayers in Europe, but people's generosity could not last forever, because there were other priorities, Bearpark said. Kosovo needed to have the money itself to pay for electricity imports. And that money could come from electricity bills that people had to pay. As for the prospects for the coming winter, the situation would considerably improve, if Pillar IV and KEK did their planning right, if donors came with generous assistance, Bearpark said. But things still would not be perfect. If the winter turned extremely harsh, the power system would not be able to function. He said he was unaware of any corruption in KEK, adding that the eight donors that had provided the money for Kosovo power plants had very sophisticated audit systems. "If they find even a little fraud, they send their people down," he stressed. Kosovo does need a second power station, and that possibility was currently being studied by the World Bank, other institutions, consultants from various aid donors. But they were also looking into other alternatives, Bearpark said. If they decided that a new plant was the best solution, then the job would be to look for the money needed to build it. |
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| Briefs . . . | |
| OSCE has held a ballot lottery for the forthcoming Kosovo Assembly election to decide the order in which the political entities will appear on the ballot paper on 17 November. All those certified to run, including independent candidates, took part in the draw. Each entity was allowed to choose which of the four languages and alphabets-Albanian, Serbian/Cyrillic, Bosniac or Turkish-it wished its name to appear on the ballot forms which will be printed in the United Kingdom. The lottery was attended by members of the Central Election Commission. In a further step towards establishing a legal community in Kosovo, OSCE, in co-operation with the Kosovo Chamber of Advocates, has inaugurated a Criminal Defence Resource Centre. Designed to help local defence lawyers, the Centre will provide legal expertise on how to apply international human rights standards in individual cases. Assistance in research and case preparation will also be given in specific cases, including war crimes, as well as ethnic or politically motivated crimes and those where there may have been bias. Overall, the Centre will promote the rights of the accused at each stage of the criminal process, and thus further the rule of law in Kosovo. Its work is intended to complement the activities of the Kosovo Judicial Institute which provides training to Kosovo lawyers. Some 200 members of the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC) have undergone staff training in Klina municipality. After 20 months of training, KPC members have put to test all the skills so far acquired to effectively manage and organize their civil protection mandate. The scenario put in place was a simulated complex incident where an airplane crashed in the vicinity with 75 passengers and crewmembers on board. The KPC units simulated provision of medical treatment and evacuation of the victims, and containment of the fire. The exercise was organized in preparation for the first collective training event-the Field Training Exercise-to take place at the end of October 2001, in which all KPC units will be engaged simultaneously. The Board of Directors of Radio-Television Kosovo (RTK) held its inaugural meeting, chaired by Deputy SRSG, Ambassador Daan Everts. The Board, which is made up of six representatives from Kosovo and three internationals, reviewed RTK's budget and policy. "It is important for Kosovo to have an independent public service broadcaster providing viewers news and information free from political influence," said Margarethe Matic, acting Director of OSCE Media Affairs Department. "The new board of directors will now guide RTK as it carries out its mandate and moves towards complete Kosovo management." To protect RTK's independence and prevent any conflict of interests, board members cannot hold elected public office, be a member of the executive body of a political party or have financial interests in the telecommunications or broadcasting industries. From Tuesday, 2 October, Kosovo's small and medium-sized enterprises will enjoy better connections with their counterparts in Europe, when Kosovo's new Euro Info Correspondence Centre is inaugurated at the Chamber of Commerce in Pristina. The Centre will belong to a network of over 300 Euro Info Centres established by the European Commission throughout Europe and the Mediterranean region. It will foster links between Kosovo's private businesses and those elsewhere in Europe, and help them target potential customers and export markets. The European Agency for Reconstruction has provided 800,000 euros to help set up the Centre in Kosovo. Two new bank branches have been licensed by BPK: the Bank for Private Business in Pejë/Pec and Gjilan/Gnjilane, and the New Bank of Kosovo in Prizren. This approval brings the total number of licensed banks operating in Kosovo to 15. The BPK Governing Board has also granted preliminary approval for a bank license to the Credit Bank of Pristina. With a number of applications pending, the BPK hopes to see more progress in the banking sector, with more banks being licensed and more regional branches being opened. With the euro changeover approaching fast, it also hopes that people without bank accounts will open them to make the changeover as simple as possible. The Fuel Supervisory Board- together with consultants, sponsored by the U.K. Government-is developing a regulatory framework for the importation, distribution and retail sale of petroleum products. These regulations will comply with the latest EU requirements and will be introduced on a sliding time scale to allow the market conditions in Kosovo to adjust to the EU levels of regulation. Strict adherence will be required to both safety provisions and matters concerning the environment. The regulations will also strictly apply to retail petrol stations. The Board is extremely concerned with the growth in the number of these stations, which already far exceeds the needs in Kosovo's market. The VALA 900 service will significantly reduce mobile tariffs, starting from 1 October 2001, according to PTK. The reduction will be 10 per cent for local calls and 25 per cent for international. VALA 900 has been operating for the past year and a half as the domestic mobile telephone operator for much of Kosovo, using its own funding without financial support from UNMIK to build a cellular network and mobile phone services. It has overcome initial technical difficulties during the start-up phase and thanks its customers for their continued support which has made the cut in tariffs possible. The roaming service now covers mobile telephone users who are not subscribers to VALA 900. In anticipation of the change to the use of the euro, the company has switched its billing system to the new currency. A new kindergarten has been opened in Zvecan. The facility was completed thanks to joint efforts of UNMIK, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Save the Children Denmark, the Zvecan Municipality and the United States Agency for International Development. The new kindergarten will accommodate 250 children between nine months and six years of age. It will improve learning conditions and foster child development. Mothers will also have more time available to develop income generating activities. All these factors will improve the quality of life in the area. Gracanica now has a maternity ward, inaugurated
on the premises of the existing secondary health care unit. The
ward was named after Harriet Tubman, an American nurse who dedicated
her life to the struggle for peace, freedom and equality. Built
by the IOM in co-ordination with the JIAS Department of Health and
Social Welfare, WHO, UN Fund for Population Activities, MDM Greece
and Doctors of the World, the ward has been also supported by the
Bureau for Population, Refugees and Migration of the U.S. Department
of State. The new facility is equipped with four pre-natal and four
post-natal beds, one operating theatre, one post-natal care room
and one neonatal intensive care room. It will serve several surrounding
towns and villages, such as Lipjan/Lipljan, Obiliq/Obilic and Fushë
Kosovë/Kosovo Polje, covering some 40,000 people-among them
Serbs, Romas and Ashkalis. UNMIK News is a publication of the Division of Public Information, UNMIK Pristina - Tel: (381.38) 504.604 Ext. 5610, email: ellwood@un.org |
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