The Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Kosovo, Ruairi O’Connell, expressed regret with regards to the lack of exclusion of candidates with criminal convictions from the election list.

He took to Facebook to write that it is “A pity that candidates with criminal convictions could not be excluded. It is now up to voters to have their say. As a friend of Kosovo, I hope voters choose to reject candidates with criminal links.”

At the outset of local election campaign, the embassies of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States called on all political parties and their candidates to commit to free, respectful, and peaceful campaigning.

By Nevena Radosavljevic

The upcoming local elections in Kosovo are important for Serbs. But even if we want to vote for someone other than Srpska Lista, we will be deprived of that right in front of our very eyes.

Local elections in Kosovo are to be held on October 22. Even though many Serbs believe they know what lies ahead, with the final outcome of the parliamentary elections still on our minds, we sometimes tend to forget about the upcoming elections.

Provincial Board of the Serbian Socialist Party (SPS) for Kosovo made the decision to run independently in the forthcoming local elections in Kosovo, scheduled for 22 October, SRNA news agency and Blic daily reported.

“We have decided to run independently in the forthcoming local election in all 10 Serb-majority municipalities, other municipalities where Serbs are living and where the Provincial Board has its network,” their press release stated.

After performing strongly in the general election, the opposition movement hopes to replicate this success in October’s local polls.

Kosovo’s opposition Vetevendosje party may prove a strong contender in the municipal elections set for October 22, after the general elections this June showed a surprising spike in its popularity.

President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, announced 22 October as the local elections date. Thaci took the decision after consultations with political parties and instructed the Central Election Commission to undertake all necessary actions to organise the electoral process.

At a meeting with Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, representatives of main political parties said 22 October is the optimal time for holding local elections.

Head of the Central Election Commission (CEC), Valdete Daka, said they are ready to organise elections whenever they are announced but noted it would be better to have them earlier on before the weather conditions worsen.

President Thaci said he would consider all proposals and announce the election date in the coming days.