MAPL: The collection of signatures for the dismissal of the mayors in the north will soon begin

In the spring of next year, elections are expected in the four northern municipalities of the country. Based on the expiration of the deadlines set in the administrative instruction and the initiative of the Serbian citizens for the dismissal of three of the four mayors in the north, the MLGA said that the deadline for such a process will start soon.

The third Sunday of April is the most distant time when the process for the removal of mayors will be held in municipalities with a Serbian majority.

108 days is the maximum period that the whole process can last until the day when the citizens vote whether they want to dismiss the mayors or not.

According to the Deputy Minister of Local Government, Arbër Vokrri, this process will start soon.

"The group has received the response from the chairman and soon the 30-day period will begin to run when the collection of 20 percent of the signatures must be completed. When I say soon, it means that the documentation that sets the signatures will be received from the central institutions and from that moment the time is calculated", said Vokrri.

The initiative to dismiss the mayors has started only in three of the four municipalities in the north.

According to Vokrri, so far there is no movement to start the dismissal of the mayor of Zveçan.

According to data from the CEC, for the process to be successful, 2 signatures must be collected in Leposaviq, 689 in North Mitrovica, and 3 in Zubin-Potok.

After receiving the signatures, the heads of the municipal assemblies must send them to the CEC for verification within three days.

The CEC does not have a specific time for the verification of signatures, but this institution, in case the specified number of signatures is not reached, can give the initiator group 10 days to collect them.

From the finding that the necessary number of signatures has been reached, the CEC must organize the election process within 45 days where citizens can vote whether they want to dismiss the mayor of the respective municipality or not.

Even if the new presidents are elected, Deputy Minister Vokrri tells about the difficulties they will face.

"I don't believe that the situation will be fixed because the new presidents, if they are elected, will have to work with the current assemblies, that is, with the current formations of the assembly members, and as you may know that the current assembly members are not from the Serbian List, in fact they are in positions contrary to the Serbian List, thus a polarization and maybe a paralysis of the municipalities can be created in the event of a change of mayors", added Vokrri.

The four municipalities in the north of Kosovo for the first time are being governed by non-Serb mayors.

Their election was accompanied by many tensions in that part, until after the agreement with the EU, Kosovo's institutions drafted the necessary legislation that paves the way for the dismissal of mayors, not only in the north.