The election campaign begins

Political entities certified to participate in the October 12 local elections officially launch their electoral campaign on Saturday.

During the 30 days that this campaign will last, researchers and monitors of the electoral process from organizations and civil society have urged candidates for mayors and municipal assemblies to conduct fair competition.

Bekim Salihu, an analyst at the GAP Institute, expressed his expectation that the local election campaign will be calm and orderly, "unlike the general election campaign, which was characterized by inflammatory and denigrating language among candidates."

"There may be certain specifics in certain municipalities. This may be manifested in particular in Drenas, Mitrovica, it may be manifested in the municipalities of northern Kosovo. So, there may be some municipalities where the language may be inappropriate between the candidates, due to the political and other specifics that exist in these localities. But, overall, my expectations are that the competition will be fair, the campaign will be calm, there will be no incidents and there will not be many elements that can be characterized as undemocratic and illegal", declared Salihu.

Vullnet Bugaqku, a senior researcher at the Kosovo Democratic Institute (KDI), has also called on political parties to refrain from using hate speech and incitement during the campaign, while recommending that they focus on presenting to citizens the projects they have prepared for the targeted municipal governments as best as possible.

"There should be no hate speech, inciting speech, attacks on journalists or attacks on authorities or independent constitutional bodies in the country. Let the competition and the entire electoral process be focused within political parameters, which are the governing programs in certain municipalities and normally give citizens space to correctly evaluate the programs and projects of political parties that each applies in the municipalities where they are competing," he emphasized.

Although the electoral campaign begins on Saturday, the winning party in the February 9 general elections, the Vetevendosje Movement (LVV), has organized its opening rally from 19:00 p.m. on Friday. Other parties have announced rallies for Saturday.

Regarding the launch of the campaign before the legally established deadline, Bugaqku emphasized that entities are left without the possibility of potential fines due to the lack of a legal framework.

"The Law on General Elections and the Law on Local Elections, as well as the by-laws of the (Central Electoral Commission) CEC, which are in force, do not set any restrictions regarding the holding of political or public rallies before the election campaign. Which means that, legally, neither the ECAP (Electoral Complaints and Appeals Panel) nor the CEC will be able to take any action regarding the actions that may occur today, or the behavior of the political party in question," Bugaqku said.

On October 12, eligible voters throughout Kosovo and from the diaspora will be able to choose their favorites for mayors and for assembly members in municipal assemblies.

But GAP analyst Salihu did not express expectations that the local race would conclude on October 12, while warning of the possibility of runoff elections in most municipalities.

"Out of 38 municipalities in Kosovo, my expectations are that at least 22 municipalities in Kosovo will have a runoff. Meanwhile, in the other municipalities, it will go to the first round. Keep in mind, this number beyond 22 is also characterized by municipalities led by communities, which of course in many cases have passed to the first round, while only 6-7 Albanian municipalities can pass without a runoff," he said.

In the local elections on October 12, over 2 million 69 thousand citizens will have the right to vote. Of these, 2 million 25 thousand 105 citizens will vote within Kosovo, while 43 thousand 993 by mail. The electoral process will be organized in 938 voting centers, with a total of 2 thousand 625 polling stations.