Pristina trying to reduce Serb turnout in elections

BELGRADE -''Pristina is doing all it can to reduce the turnout of Serbs in the local elections on November 3'', Oliver Ivanovic warned Pristina is doing all it can to reduce the turnout of Serbs in the local elections on November 3, former state secretary for Kosovo-Metohija and current President of Citizens Initiative 'Serbia, Democracy, Justice' Oliver Ivanovic warned. Pristina trying to reduce Serb turnout in elections Pristina is using various tricks so as to pass the time until September 3 when the deadline for electoral lists submission and verification expires, Ivanovic told Radio Television of Serbia. This will pass the time until the meeting between Kosovo Prime Minister Hasim Taci and his Serbian counterpart Ivica Dacic on August 27 and 28 in Brussels, and regardless of the agreement they may reach, there will be little time left for corrections, he explained. The problem lies in ballots with the logo of the so-called Republic of Kosovo, incomplete electoral lists and the decision that voters in the elections need to have the ID cards issued by Kosovo. This is all contrary to the agreement which states that all solutions have to be status neutral, Ivanovic said and noted that this entails a neutral ballot and the voting rights of expelled and displaced Serbs and those born in Kosovo who are currently living outside the province and hold Serbia's documents. He noted that it is positive that OSCE received Serb electoral lists and forwarded them to Pristina ten days ago, and expressed the hope that these would be adjusted on time. Ivanovic underscored that through the implementation of the agreement on normalisation of relations with Belgrade reached on April 19 with the EU mediation, Pristina wishes to impose the self-declared statehood of Kosovo. Pristina entered the talks to get at least an indirect recognition of statehood by Belgrade under the pressure exerted by the international community, Ivanovic said. Ivanovic stated that the idea of Serb list in the local elections is completely senseless when it comes to municipalities in northern Kosovo-Metohija with 90 percent Serb population. The Serb list is needed to the south of the Ibar River where Serbs constitute the minority population because they may not get a single mandate due to the uneven distribution of votes, he said. As for Serb turnout in the elections, Ivanovic noted that northern Kosovo Serbs are refusing to go to elections and they will not change their stand. They have gone too far in their refusal of everything connected to any contacts with Pristina, Ivanovic said and added that the problem lies in the fact that the messages are not communicated to the citizens adequately. This is why it is important for Prime Minister Dacic and Deputy Prime Minister Aloeksandar Vucic to make it clear to their parties what the government's state policy in Kosovo-Metohija is and say that the central parties in the ruling coalition, the Socialist Party of Serbia and the Serbian Progressive Party, would go to local elections in the province, Ivanovic said. Tanjug Tanjug

Pristina trying to reduce Serb turnout in elections

Pristina is using various tricks so as to pass the time until September 3 when the deadline for electoral lists submission and verification expires, Ivanovic told Radio Television of Serbia.

This will pass the time until the meeting between Kosovo Prime Minister Hasim Taci and his Serbian counterpart Ivica Dacic on August 27 and 28 in Brussels, and regardless of the agreement they may reach, there will be little time left for corrections, he explained.

The problem lies in ballots with the logo of the so-called Republic of Kosovo, incomplete electoral lists and the decision that voters in the elections need to have the ID cards issued by Kosovo.

This is all contrary to the agreement which states that all solutions have to be status neutral, Ivanovic said and noted that this entails a neutral ballot and the voting rights of expelled and displaced Serbs and those born in Kosovo who are currently living outside the province and hold Serbia's documents.

He noted that it is positive that OSCE received Serb electoral lists and forwarded them to Pristina ten days ago, and expressed the hope that these would be adjusted on time.

Ivanovic underscored that through the implementation of the agreement on normalisation of relations with Belgrade reached on April 19 with the EU mediation, Pristina wishes to impose the self-declared statehood of Kosovo.

Pristina entered the talks to get at least an indirect recognition of statehood by Belgrade under the pressure exerted by the international community, Ivanovic said.

Ivanovic stated that the idea of Serb list in the local elections is completely senseless when it comes to municipalities in northern Kosovo-Metohija with 90 percent Serb population.

The Serb list is needed to the south of the Ibar River where Serbs constitute the minority population because they may not get a single mandate due to the uneven distribution of votes, he said.

As for Serb turnout in the elections, Ivanovic noted that northern Kosovo Serbs are refusing to go to elections and they will not change their stand.

They have gone too far in their refusal of everything connected to any contacts with Pristina, Ivanovic said and added that the problem lies in the fact that the messages are not communicated to the citizens adequately.

This is why it is important for Prime Minister Dacic and Deputy Prime Minister Aloeksandar Vucic to make it clear to their parties what the government's state policy in Kosovo-Metohija is and say that the central parties in the ruling coalition, the Socialist Party of Serbia and the Serbian Progressive Party, would go to local elections in the province, Ivanovic said.