In North Mitrovica and Leposavic, municipalities in the north of Kosovo with a Serb majority, the collection of signatures for the removal of the mayor from among the Albanian community has begun.
The deadline for submitting the petition to the Kosovo Ministry of Local Self-Government and the Central Election Commission is January 22.
"Somewhere around 3500 signatures need to be collected, 20 percent of the total number of registered voters in the voter's list, and I think that this goal will probably be achieved today," Milica Radovavanović from the New Social Initiative told "Vreme".
He adds that the response of citizens is great and that the Sports Hall, where signatures are collected, started arriving even before nine o'clock when the signing was scheduled to start.
If this happens and the Central Election Commission (CEC) confirms the result of the petition, it would pave the way for the removal of the Albanian mayors who were elected in April 2023, after the elections were boycotted by the Serbs as a sign of dissatisfaction with the policies of the Government of Kosovo.
The petition was also signed by representatives of the Serbian List, the party that boycotted the elections and whose representatives left the Kosovo institutions and encouraged the departure of other Serbs.
Next week, the collection of signatures is expected to begin in Zvečan and Zubin Potok.
Wrong move
In four municipalities in the north of Kosovo - North Mitrovica, Zvečan, Leposavic and Zubin Potok, where the majority Serb population lives, the in May last year mayors of Albanian nationality came because the Serbs boycotted the elections.
Signatures for their removal are now being collected based on the Administrative Instruction of the Government of Kosovo, adopted at the beginning of September 2023. CSR.
Citizens interviewed by Radio Free Europe (RSE) in North Mitrovica said that the Serbs' decision to boycott the local elections - which were held in April last year - was still wrong.
And it all started when the Government of Serbia encouraged Srpska Lista to rebel against Pristina's decision that Serbs living in Kosovo must re-register their vehicles with RKS (Republic of Kosovo) plates. In the meantime, almost all Serbs in Kosovo have done so, and RKS plates are valid on the entire territory of Serbia from January 1, 2024.
