ECAP orders recount of 117 ballot boxes
(All monitored broadcasters, KTV)
The Election Panel for Complaints and Appeals (ECAP) ordered the Central Election Commission (CEC) to recount 117 ballot boxes, a request which has been approved. This happened because in 18 complaints submitted by running candidates, ECAP found sufficient evidence that requires recounting.
Mulë Desku, Head of ECAP Secretariat, said that 70 percent of complaints were investigated, and 26 of them were turned down as groundless.
ECAP explains that the reason why those ballot boxes were sent for recount was that there has been a mismatch in the data between candidates and political entities.
Recount of 117 ballot boxes brings the total number of recounted ballot boxes to 542. This will postpone certification of June 11 election results by CEC.
ECAP has prohibited 14 polling station committee chairs to be part of election administration organised by CEC in the coming five years.
Different reactions to Thaçi-Vucic meeting
(Most monitored broadcasters, TV21, KTV, & Klan Kosova)
The meeting between Kosovo President Thaçi and Serbian President Vucic was commented differently by political entities in Kosovo.
TV21 reported that VV believes President Thaçi is using dialogue with Serbia, so that he can avoid facing Special Court. According to VV representative Sami Kurteshi, this meeting was unnecessary and it happened at a wrong time.
LDK believes that the President is using dialogue for his personal interests. Expressing their concern, LDK officials say that President Thaçi has been imposing himself to the Serbian President Vucic to be part of the dialogue in Brussels, in order to accomplish his personal, rather than state interests.
AAK, on the other hand, is in favour of a conditional dialogue for Kosovo’s interests. Pal Lekaj of AAK said that initially, a clear framework of priority topics for Kosovo needs to be set. According to Lekaj, dialogue should result with mutual recognitions, rather than facilitating Belgrade in getting closer to the EU. In Lekaj’s view, it is Kosovo Assembly that should decide who shall lead the dialogue.
Besa Gaxherri of LDK told KTV that Kosovo is unprepared for this process, being without a constituted government and assembly. According to her, Thaçi is hasting to lead the process, without having a political consensus.
Dialogue with Serbia at presidents’ level has also been opposed by Nisma për Kosovën.
Reacting to Thaçi-Vucic meeting on a Facebook post, Veton Surroi, writer and analyst, compared Thaçi’s demand to meet Vucic with a losing gambler who borrows money to play again, hoping to get the lost money back.
Klan Kosova quoted Ilir Deda, representative of Alternativa, as saying that Kosovo’s state interest in the dialogue should be built only with a broad consensus of political parties. Deda believes that President Thaçi should get approval of political parties prior to taking unilateral steps. According to him, Hashim Thaçi is not a private person to make agreement with Aleksandar Vucic on a new phase of the dialogue with Serbia.
However, Shkelzen Maliqi, analyst, believes that there is no legal obstacle for President Thaçi to carry out negotiations with Serbia. Moreover, Maliqi thinks that this is a request of the EU, which, according to him, is now intending to open the mutual recognition issue. Maliqi added that presidents will be the main stakeholders in this process, but there will also be technical teams that will be established in coordination with the President, Government, and the Assembly.
PDK welcomes Lushtaku’s release
(Most monitored broadcasters, RTK1)
PDK considers the court decision on releasing former KLA commander and the mayor of Skenderaj/Srbica Sami Lushtaku as a delayed but just decision.
The decision was also welcomed by the KLA War Veterans Organisation. According to the Organisation, this decision represents a victory for Albanians, and another loss for Serbia. “We expect that all the rest will be released, as they are kept in prison with political accusations,” the Organisation’s statement reads.
