"Current govt. can set up interim councils in Kosovo"

Oliver Ivanovic said on Monday that the mandate of authorities in Zvecan and Zubin Potok has expired and announced that interim councils could be set up there. The two municipalities are located in the Serb-majority, northern part of Kosovo. "Current govt. can set up interim councils in Kosovo" In an interview for Tanjug, Ivanovic, who serves as state secretary with the Ministry for Kosovo in the outgoing government, said that the legal mandate of authorities in these two municipalities has expired and that municipal structures would be replaced by a mode of institutions envisaged in the Law on Local Self-Government. The Ministry for Local Self-Government and the Ministry for Kosovo and Metohija should find a solution, Ivanovic said and expressed the belief that the solution would be embodied in interim councils and the council chairmen will act as municipal presidents. He added that the incumbent Serbian government can tackle this issue during its technical mandate, due to the urgency of the issue because, as he said, it needs to be known who is in charge of signing payrolls in Zvecan and Zubin Potok. Ivanovic said that he sees no point in the local elections staged in two Kosovo municipalities on Sunday unless individuals and political parties are afraid that they would remain on the margins of events in the territory of their municipality. But this could not have been changed, the Serbian government was quite clear - the Republic Electoral Commission did not organize the elections, OSCE did not participate and the elections will thus produce no legal or political consequences, Ivanovic said. Local elections were nevertheless held in Zvecan and Zubin Potok on Sunday, although they did not win the support of official Belgrade or Pristina, and were not backed by a part of the international community, said Tanjug. The Serb Progressive Party (SNS) and the Democratic Party (DS) did not participate in these elections, which were not held in the same facilities where citizens voted in the parliamentary and presidential elections. Elections in the two municipalities were carried out according to the old electoral list which authorities in Zvecan and Zubin Potok had and not according to the unified electoral roll. The turnout there was at over 60 percent, with the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) winning in both municipalities. Tanjug

"Current govt. can set up interim councils in Kosovo"

In an interview for Tanjug, Ivanović, who serves as state secretary with the Ministry for Kosovo in the outgoing government, said that the legal mandate of authorities in these two municipalities has expired and that municipal structures would be replaced by a mode of institutions envisaged in the Law on Local Self-Government.

The Ministry for Local Self-Government and the Ministry for Kosovo and Metohija should find a solution, Ivanović said and expressed the belief that the solution would be embodied in interim councils and the council chairmen will act as municipal presidents.

He added that the incumbent Serbian government can tackle this issue during its technical mandate, due to the urgency of the issue because, as he said, it needs to be known who is in charge of signing payrolls in Zvečan and Zubin Potok.

Ivanović said that he sees no point in the local elections staged in two Kosovo municipalities on Sunday unless individuals and political parties are afraid that they would remain on the margins of events in the territory of their municipality.

But this could not have been changed, the Serbian government was quite clear - the Republic Electoral Commission did not organize the elections, OSCE did not participate and the elections will thus produce no legal or political consequences, Ivanović said.

Local elections were nevertheless held in Zvečan and Zubin Potok on Sunday, although they did not win the support of official Belgrade or Priština, and were not backed by a part of the international community, said Tanjug.

The Serb Progressive Party (SNS) and the Democratic Party (DS) did not participate in these elections, which were not held in the same facilities where citizens voted in the parliamentary and presidential elections.

Elections in the two municipalities were carried out according to the old electoral list which authorities in Zvečan and Zubin Potok had and not according to the unified electoral roll. The turnout there was at over 60 percent, with the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) winning in both municipalities.