The Central Election Commission (CEC) has approved an instruction detailing procedures for allocating seats at the Kosovo Assembly following the 8 June elections. It specifies that there is a possibility for the Serb community to gain more than the 10 reserved seats if their parties manage to win more than 80,000 votes. The same principle also applies for the other minority communities. CEC officials said the formula can be applied correctly only once election results are confirmed.

The paper reports in a front-page story that the Serb minority in Kosovo is waiting for instructions from Belgrade before they decide whether or not to participate in Kosovo’s parliamentary elections on 8 June. Despite highlighting the importance of elections, senior Serbian officials have yet to call on Kosovo Serbs to take part in them.

Kosovo Serb political representatives are divided over participation in the 8 June parliamentary elections. Serb politicians in northern Kosovo are threatening to boycott the elections if the Central Election Committee (CEC) does not remove the logo of the “state of Kosovo” from voting ballots. On the other hand, other Serb political representatives say they will continue their election campaigns and participate in the elections regardless of the decision by the Serbian List. CEC officials told the paper they would not remove the logo from the ballot and this is their final position.

The paper reports on the front page that the push by some members of the Central Election Commission (CEC) to institute automatic vote recounts at the Counting and Results Center supersedes the competencies of the independent CEC and raises questions about its management of the elections. Election experts and the Dutch ambassador to Kosovo, Robert Bosch, expressed concern, as representatives of political parties in the CEC were expected to vote on the initiative today.