In four municipalities with a Serbian majority in the north of Kosovo, North Mitrovica, Leposavic, Zvečan and Zubin Potok, on Sunday they will vote for or against the removal of Albanian mayors.
"In North Mitrovica, in the first hour after the opening of the polling stations, no one exercised the right to vote," a Radio Free Europe (RSE) journalist reported from the scene.
The same situation is in Zubin Potok, at the polling station in the municipality building, as well as in Leposavic, where voting is held at 19 polling stations.
According to data from the Central Election Commission (CEC), 46,556 voters have the right to vote, of which 1.461 are new.
According to the decision of the Central Election Commission, eight polling stations were opened in Leposavic, where voting takes place from 19 a.m. to XNUMX p.m.
Five polling stations were opened in Zubin Potok, Zvečan and North Mitrovica each.
The CEC had to find alternative locations for polling stations, because the educational institutions that work in the Serbian system in four municipalities in the north of Kosovo did not give permission to use their premises.
Citizens can answer "YES" or "NO" to the question of whether they agree that the mayor in their municipality should be dismissed.
In order for the vote to be successful, it is necessary that at least 50 percent plus one voter with the right to vote in each of the four municipalities in the north of Kosovo vote for the "YES" option.
After that, the result is sent to the President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, who has a legal deadline of 30 to 45 days to call for early elections.
If the vote is unsuccessful, the mayors remain in power, and a new initiative for their removal can be launched in a year.
The majority Serb population in North Mitrovica, Leposavic, Zvečan and Zubin Potok do not accept the Albanian mayors, but it is certain that they will not vote for their removal on April 21, because Srpska lista, the largest party of Serbs in Kosovo, which has the support of Belgrade, called for a boycott.
The Albanian mayors came to power because the Serbian List called on citizens to boycott the elections in April 2023, which were organized after the Serbs left the Kosovo institutions in November 2022 at the initiative of that party.
In the meantime, that party requested new elections and supported the citizens' petition for the removal of the mayor, only to announce on April 7 that it would not participate in the vote for the removal of the mayor.
The vote on April 21 is being organized on the basis of the Administrative Instruction issued by the Government of Kosovo after pressure from the international community to call for new elections in the municipalities in the north.
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