Newsroom
OSCE seeks inclusive elections in Kosovo
PRISTINA 26 June 2001
PRISTINA, 26 June 2001 (OSCE) - The OSCE Mission in Kosovo wants to ensure that the upcoming Kosovo-wide elections will be inclusive. This means involving all Kosovo's ethnic groups and their political parties in the process.
Many Kosovo Albanians are already registered and their names are on the voters' lists. Those who have returned since the last election will be able to get their names on the Voters' List from 30 July.
In areas where the registration process was boycotted last year, there will be an intensive effort by the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMiK) and the OSCE to get people to participate this year. The first step is for those people to register with UNMiK and find out the place they can vote, if they wish to, from the OSCE. This process starts at the end of next month and runs for six weeks.
But inclusive elections do not just mean individuals participating. It also means a plurality of political entities taking part.
The Central Election Commission, which is made up of nine representatives from Kosovo's political parties and civil society, as well as three international representatives, has set down rules for political parties which want to run in the elections.
These rules are the same for all political entities - parties, coalitions, citizens' initiatives and individual candidates - whether they are Kosovo Albanian, Kosovo Serb, Roma, Ashkali, Egyptian, Turk or Gorani.
All the political entities that want to run in the election have to have a legal status. They must submit a list of 1,000 signatures from people eligible to vote in the Kosovo elections; they have to make a deposit of 2,000 DM and they have to submit their platform. The signatures will be checked by the Central Election Commission Secretariat.
When it comes to the election itself, if a party chooses to run, it must field a slate of candidates who are eligible to vote in Kosovo. This means the candidates will have to have been born in Kosovo, or one of their parents must have been born in Kosovo, or they must have been living here consecutively for five years. They must also be older than 18 years of age. If a person no longer lives in Kosovo, but wants to run as a candidate, she or he must have been living in Kosovo on or after 1 January 1998.
The OSCE wants to ensure that the November elections are up to its usual high standards. But in the still sensitive political climate that exists in Kosovo it also wants to ensure that all people of Kosovo take part and are included if they want to be. In the coming weeks and months, the OSCE Mission in Kosovo will be striving to make this happen.
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For more information please contact Claire Trevena, Spokesperson, OSCE Mission in Kosovo, tel.: (+381-38) 500-162 ext. 260, mobile: +377 (044) 500-150; e-mail: press@omik.org, website: www.osce.org/kosovo
Many Kosovo Albanians are already registered and their names are on the voters' lists. Those who have returned since the last election will be able to get their names on the Voters' List from 30 July.
In areas where the registration process was boycotted last year, there will be an intensive effort by the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMiK) and the OSCE to get people to participate this year. The first step is for those people to register with UNMiK and find out the place they can vote, if they wish to, from the OSCE. This process starts at the end of next month and runs for six weeks.
But inclusive elections do not just mean individuals participating. It also means a plurality of political entities taking part.
The Central Election Commission, which is made up of nine representatives from Kosovo's political parties and civil society, as well as three international representatives, has set down rules for political parties which want to run in the elections.
These rules are the same for all political entities - parties, coalitions, citizens' initiatives and individual candidates - whether they are Kosovo Albanian, Kosovo Serb, Roma, Ashkali, Egyptian, Turk or Gorani.
All the political entities that want to run in the election have to have a legal status. They must submit a list of 1,000 signatures from people eligible to vote in the Kosovo elections; they have to make a deposit of 2,000 DM and they have to submit their platform. The signatures will be checked by the Central Election Commission Secretariat.
When it comes to the election itself, if a party chooses to run, it must field a slate of candidates who are eligible to vote in Kosovo. This means the candidates will have to have been born in Kosovo, or one of their parents must have been born in Kosovo, or they must have been living here consecutively for five years. They must also be older than 18 years of age. If a person no longer lives in Kosovo, but wants to run as a candidate, she or he must have been living in Kosovo on or after 1 January 1998.
The OSCE wants to ensure that the November elections are up to its usual high standards. But in the still sensitive political climate that exists in Kosovo it also wants to ensure that all people of Kosovo take part and are included if they want to be. In the coming weeks and months, the OSCE Mission in Kosovo will be striving to make this happen.
--
For more information please contact Claire Trevena, Spokesperson, OSCE Mission in Kosovo, tel.: (+381-38) 500-162 ext. 260, mobile: +377 (044) 500-150; e-mail: press@omik.org, website: www.osce.org/kosovo