"Elections in north should be annulled"

BELGRADE Oliver Ivanovic says voting in the four north Kosovo municipalities should be annulled, as OSCE left polling stations a few hours before they closed on Sunday. "If the elections were annulled and an Albanian chosen for Kosovska Mitrovica mayor, he would certainly not be able to start working as he would not be able to enter the building in the northern part," this former Serbian government official who was running for the mayor of Kosovska Mitrovica, said on Monday. "Elections in north should be annulled" "He would have to be Kosovska Mitrovica mayor, but somewhere in its southern part," Ivanovic told RTS. He noted that he had "warned even earlier that it could happen that an Albanian becomes Kosovska Mitrovica mayor in the first round, if the turnout of Serbs drops to below 10 percent, with the turnout of Albanians being between 30- 40 percent." "An Albanian could be elected as mayor, but he will certainly not take office, as that would undermine foundations of the entire plan. The plan for forming a community of Serb municipalities is based on the idea that Serbs should govern Serbs. It is not logical that an Albanian be mayor in areas where Serbs account for 90 percent of citizens," Ivanovic said. Ivanovic said it would not be advisable to repeat election in four weeks, as he does not believe that the situation could change significantly in that period, so the best option is to annul elections and postpone them for some time. He qualified as "political vandalism" the things that happened on Sunday in certain polling stations, adding that must be a subject of the debate before all relevant bodies. Ivanovic believes that it will be difficult to continue living in northern Kosovo after harsh accusations that were thrown on Sunday, and notes that ill-prepared elections brought about confrontation between Serbs. He added that the Serbian government is a key to resolving this situation, and that the government knows how to resolve this problem Ivanovic did not dismiss the possibility of new incidents and that is why he is insisting on greater caution in the coming period. He said he believed that the boycott of elections in Kosovska Mitrovica did not succeed, noting that 750 Serbs voted, and several hundred votes arrived by mail. (Tanjug) RTS Tanjug

"Elections in north should be annulled"

"He would have to be Kosovska Mitrovica mayor, but somewhere in its southern part," Ivanović told RTS.

He noted that he had "warned even earlier that it could happen that an Albanian becomes Kosovska Mitrovica mayor in the first round, if the turnout of Serbs drops to below 10 percent, with the turnout of Albanians being between 30- 40 percent."

"An Albanian could be elected as mayor, but he will certainly not take office, as that would undermine foundations of the entire plan. The plan for forming a community of Serb municipalities is based on the idea that Serbs should govern Serbs. It is not logical that an Albanian be mayor in areas where Serbs account for 90 percent of citizens," Ivanović said.

Ivanović said it would not be advisable to repeat election in four weeks, as he does not believe that the situation could change significantly in that period, so the best option is to annul elections and postpone them for some time.

He qualified as "political vandalism" the things that happened on Sunday in certain polling stations, adding that must be a subject of the debate before all relevant bodies.

Ivanović believes that it will be difficult to continue living in northern Kosovo after harsh accusations that were thrown on Sunday, and notes that ill-prepared elections brought about confrontation between Serbs.

He added that the Serbian government is a key to resolving this situation, and that the government knows how to resolve this problem

Ivanović did not dismiss the possibility of new incidents and that is why he is insisting on greater caution in the coming period.

He said he believed that the boycott of elections in Kosovska Mitrovica did not succeed, noting that 750 Serbs voted, and several hundred votes arrived by mail.