With eight votes in favour and two abstentions, Kosovo’s Central Election Commission has approved April 21 as the date for the vote on the removal of four Albanian mayors of municipalities in the mainly Serbian north.

Ctizens of North Mitrovica, Zubin Potok, Zvecan and Leposavic signed petitions for the dismissal of the mayors of these municipalities in mid-January.

According to the CEC, in these four municipalities, the requirement of 20 per cent of the signatures of the total number of voters in order to vote for the removal of the mayors was met.

The CEC’s Burim Ahmetaj on Friday presented the number of citizens who had signed the petitions. Ahmetaj said that in Leposavic, 2, 905 citizens with the right to vote had signed the petition, which was 20 per cent of the population with the right to vote in this municipality. In Zubin Potok, 1,380 citizens with the right to vote signed; in Zvecan, 1,714 citizens, and in North Mitrovica, 3,653 citizens.

The decision of the CEC was welcomed by the European Union Ambassador to Kosovo, Tomas Szunyog. He said the EU was ready to offer support throughout this process. “It’s now crucial for the CEC to make necessary preparations to ensure a smooth process & to create conditions for free and fair voting,” Szunyog wrote on X.

For the mayor finally to be dismissed, 50 per cent of the overall list of voters is needed, plus one. Otherwise, a repeat initiative can only be made one year later.

In September 2023, the government of Prime Minister Albin Kurti issued an Administrative Instruction, which regulates the way citizens can go about dismissing a mayor through petitions.

According to the rules, at least three citizens with the right to vote in a municipality must form an initiating group and then notify the chairman of the municipal assembly of their aim to collect signatures for a petition to remove the mayor.

A minimum of 20 per cent of all registered voters in any municipality must then sign the petition. Signature collection started in mid-January.

Kosovo Serbs boycotted local elections in Kosovo held in April 2023, after which the government imposed new mayors in four predominantly Serb municipalities previously run by Belgrade-backed Srpska Lista mayors. This triggered demonstrations that turned into violent clashes with the Kosovo Police and with NATO’s peacekeeping mission KFOR.

As a result, North Mitrovica, Zvecan, Leposavic and Zubin Potok saw mayors from ethnic Albanian parties elected to office on tiny turnouts of only 3 to 5 per cent.

On October 13, 2023, Srpska Lista announced that it will participate in potential new mayoral byelections and urged a date to be set for the polls.

In the last local elections in 2021, the vast majority of the votes were won by Srpska Lista in all four northern Serb-majority municipalities. According to the Central Election Commission, the party won 97.1 per cent of the votes cast in Leposavic, 81.54 per cent in Zubin Potok, 96.04 per cent in Zvecan, and 89.17 per cent in North Mitrovica.