UNMIK ON-AIR

“Pt. 2: Will Serbs Participate in October’s Elections?”

by Zoran CULAFIC

August 18, 2004

SLUG:

The deadline for registering political parties for the upcoming October parliamentary elections in Kosovo has passed, and it is still not clear if Serbs are going to participate.

---

Hello and welcome. You are listening to UNMIK On-Air.

The deadline for registering political parties for the upcoming October parliamentary elections in Kosovo has passed, and it is still not clear if Kosovo Serb political parties are going to participate.

The Government of Serbia still holds a firm position of non-participation in the elections process unless additional guaranties are offered to the Serb community in Kosovo.

These include guaranties of security and freedom of movement, as well as return of all internally displaced people who want to return back to their homes.

Most Kosovo Serb political entities have followed Belgrade’s instructions, and today the main political parties, including the Kosovo Serb political coalition Povratak (or Return) are still opting out of the election process, leaving relatively a small and new Serb politically party – The Civic initiative – to be the only one that expressed firm willingness to participate in October elections despite the appeals from Belgrade.

Draskovic: “This is not a party issue, this is a state issue par excellence and the decision must be made consensual, even if it is wrong.”

Serbia and Montenegro foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic is perhaps the only senior Belgrade official to strongly defend the position that participating in the October elections is essential for Kosovo Serbs.

In an exclusive interview with UNMIK ON-AIR, Draskovic admitted that his party is not going to participate in the elections if Belgrade stands firm.

Draskovic: “I think the boycott is the wrong decision, but we are going to boycott too unless the Government changes its stance, and I hope that the international community is going to give certain guaranties to the Government of Serbia for the safety of Kosovo Serbs and after that we are going to have a common stance to participate in elections, and I think the joint participation of democratic parties in Serbia.”

Washington and the European capitals joined the United Nations Security Council in relaying a very clear massage to Belgrade - Serbs need to participate in October’s election process!

However, at the August UN Security Council meeting on Kosovo, UN Secretary General Aide for peacekeeping operations Hedi Anabi also admitted that the international community must address the needs of Kosovo’s minorities.

Hanabi: “Only through improved security conditions and freedom of movement can Kosovo’s minorities be confident of their future in Kosovo, and only then can internally displaced feel confident enough to return to their homes.”

Head of the Belgrade based NGO, Forum for interethnic relations, Dusan Janjic points out that Belgrade’s call for a boycott of the October elections is a part of the Serbian Government’s plan for Kosovo’s stabilization, especially when considering the March riots.

UNMIK and Kosovo’s institutions, on the other hand, put Serb inclusion [in the elections] as a top agenda item for Kosovo’s stabilization.

Janic asserts that by arguing for non-participation in the upcoming elections Belgrade is trying shift the responsibility for any future violence on the international community and the Kosovo government.

Janjic: “I can say that Belgrade was politically right, I can say too that Belgrade, in an absurd way, was thinking more about security and safety in Kosovo then the Albanian majority and UNMIK did. But unfortunately Belgrade is weaker and I think it is going to make a compromise. The essence is not the issue of participating or not participating in elections, the essence is how much is done to prevent any new violence to take place.”

The US Office in Kosovo sent a very clear massage to the Serbs in Kosovo, as well as to all other communities, to participate in the elections process because it is the best way to protect their own interests, according to US Office Public Affairs spokesman, Michael McClellan.

McClellan stressed that the October parliamentary elections are the most important since the end of the 1999 conflict, adding that the processes in Kosovo would continue to develop regardless of the decision of to Serb community to participate.

McClellan: “We believe very strongly that all communities in Kosovo should participate in the elections. This is a very important part of the democratic processes in Kosovo and we want these processes to include all communities. And in every respect it’s very much in the interest of Serbian community to be part of these processes, so that they can work to secure and advocate their interest and be part of the larger community here in Kosovo. So, we’d urge them to participate.

UNMIK On-Air interviewed Illir Dugoli, senior adviser to Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi, who said that Kosovo’s institutions and political leaders are continuously making efforts to encourage Serbs to integrate into Kosovo society and to take active part in deciding their own future.

Dugoli: “As far we are concerned, as far the Government of Kosova is concerned and the PM himself, we really would like to see them participating and as you might have heard PM called the Serbs to participate in the elections, to contribute and use all the institutional means to express their grievances, their positions, problems, and try through institutions, mainly through the Assembly, to resolve all the problems they have in Kosova. If for whatever reason they decide not to participate, then it will be the detriment of their interest, of their representation and of a little bit of the process but not the last … to say like, the show must go on, with or without their participation.”

However, the only elected and legitimate Serb political entity within Kosovo’s institutions at the moment, the Coalition Povratak or (Return), is still out of the process, having pulled out of the ballot registration process.

Many analysts in Kosovo assume that Coalition Povratak is almost politically dissolved, with many antagonistic fractions within it.

Oliver Ivanovic Serbian representative in Kosovo’s Assemby admits the antagonisms within the party, but still argues that Povratak must take its place in political life.

Ivanovic: “If there would be eventual participation in the elections, then Coalition Povratak (Return) must have its place in it, but who would be representing it, that’s completely different question. I do have a certain reserve; a certain fear that in Belgrade there is no readiness or political capacity to open such an important issue.”

Meanwhile, the new Special Representative for the Security General for UNMIK, Soren Jessen-Petersen still has the ultimate say in the process – In his first press briefing at Pristina airport Jessen-Pettersen said that the top priorities of the UN mission in Kosovo will be stabilizing the situation in Kosovo and determining the political status of the province.

Many analysts believe that the October parliamentary elections are good opportunity for that.

And that is all for this edition of UNMIK On-Air – thanks for listening and stay tuned.