Kosovo Serbs in the northern part of the divided town of Mitrovica will vote for a new mayor again in late February after the previous poll-winner refused the job.
The new polling date was set for February 23 after Krstimir Pantic, the first Serb mayor elected in elections organised by the Pristina government, unexpectedly turned down the position after winning the previous ballot.
Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga called on Kosovo’s Central Election Commission “to make all necessary preparations to organise and hold the elections for mayor in Mitrovica North”, urging all voters in the municipality “to use their right to vote”.
Local elections in North Mitrovica were held on November 3, but they had to be repeated two weeks later in three polling stations which were attacked by masked men on election day.
The first re-run vote could not produce a new mayor, but after a run-off held on December 1, Pantic was elected as mayor with over 55 per cent of around 5,000 votes cast.
But earlier this month, Pantic refused to sign a document endorsing the oath of office to become mayor.
“By signing below a text where the coat of arms of Kosovo appears, suggesting that Kosovo is a republic, I would violate the constitution of Serbia,” he explained.
He said that the local elections, which were organised by the OSCE and purportedly ‘status neutral’, were “a major scam by the international community”.
Pantic, who was part of the Belgrade-backed ‘Srpska’ list and is a member of Serbia’s ruling Progressive party, also resigned as deputy director of the Serbian government’s office for Kosovo.
The outcome of the elections in North Mitrovica is considered crucial for the establishment of the Association of Serb Municipalities, a body envisaged by last April’s EU-brokered deal on normalising relations between Pristina and Belgrade.
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/kosovo-president-sets-date-for-mayoral-elections-in-mitrovica-north
