With just four days to go before the official start of the local election campaign in Kosovo on October 12, one candidate in North Mitrovica has proposed an unusual way to kick off the race.
Skender Sadiku, who will lead the Citizens’ Initiative Mitrovica in the upcoming elections, has invited all mayoral candidates and list holders to meet for coffee on the city’s main promenade this Saturday, September 13, at 10 a.m.
“The idea of GI Mitrovica is to gather all list holders of every political entity, as well as mayoral candidates, so that citizens can symbolically see us together at the promenade near Knez, at the Šar pastry shop owned by a Gorani. I invite them to join so that citizens can see us all together – to give an early signal that we are doing this for them,” Sadiku said.
Ten mayoral candidates and 103 candidates for the local assembly will compete in North Mitrovica in October. The mayoral contenders are:
Marko Jakšić – “North for All”; Betim Osmani – GI “Mitrovica”; Katarina Ađančić – “Katarina Ađančić”; Erden Atić – Vetëvendosje; Nebojša Milić – “New Face, People’s Justice”; Flutura Hamza Azemi – PDK; Aleksandar Arsenijević – “Serbian Democracy”; Milan Radojević – Srpska Lista; Branko Veselinović – “Serbian People’s Movement”; and Nenad Vukmirović – “For Freedom, Justice and Survival.”
Sadiku says several candidates have already agreed to attend, including independent candidate Katarina Ađančić, North Mitrovica’s only Serbian municipal assembly member Dušan Milunović, and some Albanian colleagues. He will also extend the invitation to all other Serbian candidates, including Srpska Lista, stressing that he is also publicly issuing the call via KoSSev.
“I would like us to be seen together. We’re going to the promenade, which belongs to all citizens, and showing them we’re part of them. After all, we’re asking for their votes,” he said, adding that such a gathering would also signal a fairer campaign.
“When they see us drinking coffee together, it means the campaign will be more human – that at least we won’t insult each other but show mutual respect. Let’s have fair play.”
“I Would Like the Winner to Be the Citizens”
Sadiku frequently uses the word “citizen” in his speeches and emphasizes that he wants the citizens themselves to be the winners of these elections.
Asked about the current situation of the Serbian majority in North Mitrovica, Sadiku recalled their mass withdrawal from Kosovo institutions four years ago:
“Unfortunately, the people elected by the Serbian community made things complicated,” he said, claiming that his small initiative “kept the house” for all citizens.
Sadiku insists that the Serbian majority in North Mitrovica must take on local responsibility just as Albanians, as the majority in Kosovo, bear responsibility at the central level.
“Serbs Are Paying the Price of Srpska Lista’s Boycott”
He blames Serbian political representatives – above all Srpska Lista – for the current situation in which local Serbs find themselves. By withdrawing from Kosovo institutions nearly three years ago, he argues, Srpska Lista left ordinary citizens to pay the price.
“Without police, courts or municipal staff, life for citizens became much more complicated,” he said, pointing to everyday administrative problems such as registrars who do not speak Serbian and the lack of Serbian-speaking officials.
He added that the issue is not only between Serbs and Albanians:
“If the Serbian community is dissatisfied, imagine how it is for Roma, Ashkali, Egyptians and others,” Sadiku said, noting the pressure on non-majority communities and the multiethnic makeup of North Mitrovica, including the Gorani and Bosniak Mahala neighborhoods.
Albanian Children in “Container Schools”
Sadiku also raised concerns over Albanian children from the north attending so-called “container schools” or traveling to the south for education. He said about 16 children currently study in a temporary school in the Mikronaselje settlement, and up to 300 pupils from the north attend classes outside their home neighborhoods. He advocates for their inclusion in the “Sveti Sava” school in North Mitrovica.
Message to Serbian Voters: Turn Out in Large Numbers
Sadiku concluded by urging Serbs in North Mitrovica to participate in the elections in large numbers:
“If the Serbian majority comes out in force, there will be fewer Albanian assembly members. Through that, I am calling on them: Go out, you have the opportunity, the weapon – show us our place! Choose the best and don’t complain tomorrow,” he said.
On claims that many Serbs are missing from the voter list, Sadiku reiterated that this is the consequence of the census boycott earlier this year. At the remark that the census was not properly conducted in the North, he noted that “the last normal census for Mitrovica was in 1981.”
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
