UNMIK ON AIR
KOSOVO ELECTIONS
By Zoran CULAFIC
SLUG: On 23 October of this year,
Kosovans are scheduled to conduct elections for Kosovo’s provisional
government. These elections are the second set of elections for Kosovo’s
Provisional Legislature since the 1999 conflict ended. Now the question remains
- will Kosovo’s Serb community participate?
On 23 October of this year, Kosovans are
scheduled to conduct elections for Kosovo’s provisional government. These
elections are the second set of elections for Kosovo’s Provisional Legislature
since the 1999 conflict ended. Now the question remains - will Kosovo’s Serb
community participate?
Hello and welcome. You are listening to
UNMIK ON-Air.
After the 1999 conflict ended, the OSCE
or Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe was given the mandate to
organize and supervise elections in Kosovo.
To date, three elections have been
organized - the municipal assembly elections in 2000 and 2002 and the Kosovo
Assembly elections in 2001 – thus far all of the elections have been qualified
as free and fair by local and international observers.
But this year OSCE is handing over the
responsibilities to local election management institutions.
At a recent press conference at United
Nations Headquarters in Kosovo - OSCE spokesperson Bernar Vrban fielded the
pressing question of this election cycle – SERB PARTICIPATION.
Vrban said that August 4th was the
deadline for the parties to apply for the elections.
Vrban: “Anything
that happens (after that) is up to the CEC, Central Election Commission, they
make the decisions on who gets certified or who does not get certified. The
OSCE does make decisions on who gets to play AND who does not get to play in
the upcoming elections. BUT, we cannot continue to push things back. Next
Thursday, the 12th of August, is the ballot lottery, at that point of time it
has to be very clear who is participating and who is not participating.”
Serbia’s government and Kosovo’s
international administration understand the utmost importance of October’s
elections, but the Kosovo Serb community is undecided on the matter.
STREET SOUNDS…
Influenced by prominent Belgrade
political leaders, Kosovo Serbs are reluctant to vote if some guaranties for
security are not offered. At least, that is what one can conclude when talking
to people in Gracanica, a Serbian enclave outside of Pristina.
For the Serbs living
there, the huge gap of distrust between Serb and Albanian communities in Kosovo
became more obvious after the March riots.
Most of the Serbs
interviewed for this segment, said that Kosovo institutions alone could not
protect them effectively and that unless some firm and clear institutional
guaranties are offered – they would not vote in October.
Gracanica Serb:
“I would not vote … and to tell you frankly, voting means living in
democracy, but Kosovo today is not democratic. There is no freedom of movement
for the people and as long as you have no freedom of movement, there is no
democracy at all. I also think that we should not participate
in elections …because, there is nothing secured that could force people to
participate in elections and to fight for democratic Kosovo …”
MUSIC….
On the other end of
the equation, Kosovo Albanians interviewed for this segment considers the
October elections as an ideal opportunity for minority communities to begin
integrating into Kosovo society.
Kosovo Albanians: “I
would tell Serbs to participate in the elections because they belong here and
not in Serbia.”
“My message to the
Serb community is for them to participate in the elections because that’ the
only way for them to get more rights and to defend their rights.”
“They still have not
decided not to participate and these are only conditions, which are a part of a
political plan to gain more points in negotiations with the international
administration. I still believe that they will participate in the elections and
institutions.”
Nenad Radosavljevic,
who advises the UN Office of the SRSG on the issues of returns for internally
displaced persons, supports the notion that Serbs should not participate in
October elections unless some essential and clear guaranties for that community
are offered.
Radosavljevic does
however expect that the UN Security Council will make concessions to the Serbs,
but how significant these concessions will be, Radosavljevic says - remains to be seen.
At the same time he
expects growing international pressure on Belgrade to call Kosovo on Serbs to
go out and vote in October elections, something that could give more
credibility to the idea of a multi-ethnic Kosovo.
CUT 6 Radosavljevic – The Government of Serbia
should not and would not change its stance unless the Serbs are offered
something. We must insist on implementation of the Serbia Government’s plan,
because it is the only way to achieve institutional protection of Serb people
in Kosovo.
Local Serb
politicians, like Oliver Ivanovic, who is currently a member of the Kosovo
Assembly, have not ruled out the possibility of Serbs participating in October
elections.
Ivanovic told UNMIK ON
AIR that besides guaranteeing safety conditions, Serb representatives in Kosovo
institutions are very aware that by MID-2005 the international community will
begin the process of defining the final status of Kosovo.
Ivanovic: “Important
events are ahead us in 2005 and 2006 and those who are going to be elected must
have a full and unreserved support from Belgrade”.
The United Nations
Mission has called upon Serb political leaders to change their stance on
boycotting October’s elections. Georgy Kakuk, UNMIK spokesperson confirmed that
UNMIK has managed several official meetings and private contacts with top Serb
political leaders on the issue.
Kakuk: “The message sent to them was that it is absolutely essential for the Serb community in Kosovo to be fully participant in the political process, not only in elections but in all political process in Kosovo in terms provided in the Constitutional framework”.
From an outsiders
perspective the electoral process is not good for anyone, Kakuk said, and
particularly for the Serbian community and other minorities.
He stressed that those
who have made statements about Serb nonparticipation in the elections must
carefully consider the consequences and the potential weakness of their position
if they are not represented in the Kosovo Assembly.
As of now, the only Serb political parties
registered are SPOT [Serbian Movement of Resistance] – [NS] New Serbia party and
PSS [Forces of Serbia Party] led by Serb tycoon Bogoljub Karic
And that is all for this edition of UNMIK ON-Air…thanks for listening and stay tuned for the second part of this two part election story.