Kosovo's local elections likely to go to second round in Pristina, other main cities

By bne IntelliNews October 20, 2017

Kosovo’s local elections were held on October 22, with the result in several key cities — including the capital Pristina — reportedly inconclusive, meaning a second round of voting will take place. 

Ahead of the vote, polls indicated there could be changes ahead in a number of local governments after the general election saw an unexpected shift towards the anti-establishment Vetevendosje party, which a recent poll indicated could be reflected at local level. Unfulfilled promises by incumbent mayors could also lead to changes. 

While official results have not been released yet, the NGO Democracy in Action told local media after polls closed that runoffs were expected in most municipalities. This includes the capital Pristina, where reportedly the Vetevendosje candidate Shpend Ahmeti is ahead, although without enough votes to win outright. 

A poll from GAP Institute ahead of the election showed that a majority of voters, 56%, planned to vote for the same party as they backed in the June general election, compared to just 14% who planned to vote differently and 7% who didn't plan to vote. However, with the remaining voters undecided or choosing not to disclose their plans this left plenty of room for surprises. 

Election day was largely calm, although police reported they had seized a “suspicious explosive device” from a bus entering Kosovo from Serbia early in the day. Other than that, “in terms of security in general the election process has passed calm and without major incidents, which in one way or another have not affected the continuation of the electoral process,” a police statement said. International observers did not reporting any major irregularities at the 38 municipalities. 

Kosovo’s President Hashim Thaci tweeted on October 22, “Good elections for #Kosovo. Fair and free, well organized, strengthening democracy & civic participation. Congrats CEC & political parties!”

The June election saw the so-called “war coalition” — led by the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) formerly led by Thaci alongside two other parties led by ex-Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) commanders — take the lead but with fewer votes than expected. 

Meanwhile, the left-wing nationalist Vetevendosje performed much better than anticipated, taking second place overall and becoming the largest single party represented in the new parliament. 

Vetevendosje’s success was attributed to many Kosovans’ fatigue with established parties and growing discontent with official corruption. Kosovo is considered one of the most corrupt countries in Europe, according to the latest Corruption Perceptions Index from Transparency International. It is ranked in 95th place out of 176 countries, below all other European countries except Moldova, Russia and Ukraine. Highlighting the problem, in the run-up to the election an MP from one of the ruling parties was arrested on suspicion of selling German visas. 

The survey also showed that while 70% of respondents were inclined to believe that the local elections would bring positive changes for their families, just 7% were fully convinced this would happen, said Berat Thaqi, policy analyst at GAP Institute, which on October 13 presented the results of the survey carried out by UBO Consulting. 

It also showed that relatively few Kosovans planned to vote for a candidate who did not share their ethnicity, regardless of their qualifications, although this was somewhat more likely among citizens who are “more acquainted with other community members” in mixed areas such as Prizren and Mitrovica. 

As usual in the Western Balkans there was a rise in nationalist rhetoric around the election, with Prime Minister Ramush Haradinal slamming “interference” from Belgrade after Serbian Defence Minister Aleksandar Vulin encouraged Serbs in Kosovo to vote for Serb List. 

Yet as the last election showed, nationalism is becoming a less important mobilising factor for Kosovans than the pressing issues of unemployment and poverty. The head of the UN mission in Kosovo (UNMiK), Zahir Tanin, talked in August of a “tidal wave of change”, with “many voters, particularly the younger generation” prioritising “jobs, access to education and economic opportunities, reducing corruption and strengthening the rule of law” above the ethno-nationalist rhetoric that has historically been the main tool for mobilising voters. 

This could be bad news for some of the country’s incumbent mayors as another GAP study shows many of the promises made ahead of the last local elections in 2013 have not been fulfilled. According to the study, overall only around half the promises made by mayors, 52%, have been fulfilled. The situation was worst in the area of education, where just 26% of promises had been fulfilled. 

“Areas where municipalities have failed to fulfil promises are related to economic development, job creation, attracting investment from the diaspora, opening new enterprises, functionalising economic zones and industrial parks, developing public and private partnership projects, improvement of health sector, protection of cultural heritage, creation and financing of archaeological research teams, coverage of areas with regulatory plans, drafting of sector strategies, etc,” said the report.

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