“If the northern municipalities do not apply necessary changes in their statutes within 30 days, the Government of Kosovo needs to implement measures foreseen by law. The actions of the northern municipalities are a political game played by mayors there,” Sazan Ibrahimi, executive director of the Association of Municipalities of Kosovo said in an interview for RTK.
Ibrahimi said the 30-day deadline that the Ministry for Local Government gave to the municipalities is positive and aimed at encouraging them to review their statutes. “But I think that mayors of northern municipalities are playing a political game and I think they are challenging the central government to see if it will respect the legislation adopted by parliament or if it will give in as it has done on several occasions so far,” he added.
Besnik Osmani, secretary at the Ministry for Local Government, said he believed the northern municipalities will review their statutes and avoid extraordinary elections. “We believe there won’t be a need for extraordinary elections there. We had a successful swearing in and those sessions were held in accordance with the law and procedures. In consultations with mayors and heads of municipalities, we expect that within the 30-day period they will correct all elements in the statutes that we have considered to be unlawful,” Osmani said.
