Newsroom
Deadline for party certification is 11 June for Kosovo municipal elections
PRISTINA 11 May 2000
PRISTINA, 11 May 2000 - Certification is an essential step on the road to municipal elections. Rules that will govern how political parties, coalitions, citizens intiatives and independent candidates will apply to be certified to run in those elections have been agreed by the Central Election Commission.
A political party, a coalition of parties, independent political candidates and citizens initiatives - groups of people who unite to stand on a single issue platform - all have to be certified by the Central Election Commission if they want to run in elections. The deadline for submission of applications is the 11 June 2000.
Political parties, coalitions, citizens intiatives and independent candidates need to collect 100 signatures from people eligible to vote in each of the municipalities which they will be contesting; these signatures can count towards those needed for Kosovo-wide political party registration. The Kosovo-wide registration is a separate process which is running simultaneously. They must also pay 100 DM deposit for each municipality in which they will run. The money is refunded if a candidate wins a seat. And they must sign a statement saying they will abide by electoral rules.
If two or more political parties or coalitions want to stand under the same name, or under names so similar that confusion would be caused, the CEC will call on the UN Registration Office to determine which party or coalition has the right to use the name.
The CEC will make its decision on certification 18 days after the closing date of June 11th; if the information provided to the CEC is incomplete - or wrong - applicants have three days to rectify the problem. And if the CEC rejects an application, the individual, coalition or party has two days to appeal.
The CEC has decided on these rules to ensure that elections in Kosovo are free, fair and democratic. It calls on all participants to abide with them to allow for the smooth functioning of election preparations.
For further information, contact Press and Public Information of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, tel.: +381 38 500 162 ext. 118, 218, 260, 342. Satphone: 871 762 009 948. Fax: +381 38 500 188. Satfax: 871 382 425 022. Roland Bless, Spokesperson, mobile + 389 70 250 576. By e-mail: press@omik.org. Website: //www.osce.org/kosovo
A political party, a coalition of parties, independent political candidates and citizens initiatives - groups of people who unite to stand on a single issue platform - all have to be certified by the Central Election Commission if they want to run in elections. The deadline for submission of applications is the 11 June 2000.
Political parties, coalitions, citizens intiatives and independent candidates need to collect 100 signatures from people eligible to vote in each of the municipalities which they will be contesting; these signatures can count towards those needed for Kosovo-wide political party registration. The Kosovo-wide registration is a separate process which is running simultaneously. They must also pay 100 DM deposit for each municipality in which they will run. The money is refunded if a candidate wins a seat. And they must sign a statement saying they will abide by electoral rules.
If two or more political parties or coalitions want to stand under the same name, or under names so similar that confusion would be caused, the CEC will call on the UN Registration Office to determine which party or coalition has the right to use the name.
The CEC will make its decision on certification 18 days after the closing date of June 11th; if the information provided to the CEC is incomplete - or wrong - applicants have three days to rectify the problem. And if the CEC rejects an application, the individual, coalition or party has two days to appeal.
The CEC has decided on these rules to ensure that elections in Kosovo are free, fair and democratic. It calls on all participants to abide with them to allow for the smooth functioning of election preparations.
For further information, contact Press and Public Information of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, tel.: +381 38 500 162 ext. 118, 218, 260, 342. Satphone: 871 762 009 948. Fax: +381 38 500 188. Satfax: 871 382 425 022. Roland Bless, Spokesperson, mobile + 389 70 250 576. By e-mail: press@omik.org. Website: //www.osce.org/kosovo