The chairman of the North Mitrovica Municipal Assembly, Nedžad Ugljanin, rejected the request for the recall of the mayor of North Mitrovica, which was submitted by a group of residents last week. Ugljanin himself confirmed the news for KoSSev. He claimed that if they submit a separate request for the „formation of an initiative group“, with a „request that CEC registers“ them as such, along with the already-submitted form, Ugljanin will „register“ them tomorrow.
Exactly five days ago, a group of North Mitrovica locals submitted an initiative for the removal of the mayor in this municipality. At the time, Ugljanin met with them in the assembly hall, taking on the role of the mediator between the petitioners and relevant institutions in their intention to recall the current mayor, as specified by the Administrative Instruction.
„The initiators of the procedure for the dismissal of the mayor came and I met with them within the North Mitrovica municipal building, where they supplemented that request and addressed me as the chairman in writing and indicated that they were guided by administrative instructions,“ Ugljanin said five days ago.
Upon receiving the request, the MA chairman reminded those present that he has five days to review it, and then inform the initiators of the outcome.
On the same day, he forwarded their request to the Ministry of Local Self-Government Administration, the Central Election Commission, and the mayor himself.
However, according to the Administrative Instruction, Article 5 paragraph 3, the chairman is the authorized person for the registration of the initiative group.
However, in today’s explanation of the decision not to accept this request, Ugljanin stated that it is not in line with the Administrative Instruction for the recall of the mayor because it stipulates that the applicants, before even starting to collect signatures in support of the request, must first inform him about it.
Moreover, he underlined that according to the Administrative Instructions, apart from having to inform him about the group launching the initiative, they were also obliged to „file a seperate request” with Ugljanin, who would then “register them as such in the Central Election Commission (CEC)“.
How Ugljanin justified the rejection of the request today
Although he personally received and confirmed the receipt of their request five days ago, Ugljanin now claims that they „did not deliver“ this request that should have been addressed to him, but „only a request for the recall of the mayor“.
According to his claims, the form itself, which contains data on the signatories and the initiative group, is not enough for him to register them as such.
In his explanation to the group as to why their request was rejected, Ugljanin wrote that:
„Given that, as an attachment to your request, you did not submit a notification requesting that I consider your request and register your initiative group as an authorized body with the CEC, I inform you that I cannot review, consider and register your group as an authorized body out of formal reasons.“
Bearing in mind the requisite data shown by the request form itself, as well as the fact that Ugljanin personally received the request from the initiators in the assembly hall, as well as the fact that the Administrative Instruction itself does not provide for the possibility of explicitly rejecting citizens’ requests (Article 5 paragraph 3), we requested additional clarifications from Ugljanin on the reasons why he rejected the request.
In a subsequent clarification, he alleged that at that meeting five days ago, he told the initiators that they needed to submit an additional request to Ugljanin as the MA chairman in written form about the initiative group itself and a request for the group’s registration in the CEC.
„Citizens are obliged to submit a special request in addition to the completed form for the recall of the mayor, in which they inform me that they have formed an initiative group and that they want me to register them with the CEC. With that additional request, I then move forward with MALS and CEC,“ Ugljanin told KoSSev.
Furthermore, he claims he made the decision independently and that he was „not influenced by anyone“. He also reiterated several times that he consulted with the relevant ministry on several occasions.
Now, after their request was not accepted, the initiators can go to the CEC directly.
However, Ugljanin believes that it is better that he deals with this matter.
„I will register them in the CEC immediately, I will not wait five days. They only need to provide the required request along with the already submitted form,“ specified Ugljanin.
At the same time, he confirmed KoSSev’s earlier findings that one of the key justifications as to why the initiative was rejected is the fact that the applicants cited the lack of functionality of the municipality as another reason for the removal of the mayor, something with which Ugljanin vehemently disagrees.
When asked why this was not included in the explanation for the rejection of the request, Ugljanin did not provide a concrete answer, insisting that this would be a sufficient reason to reject their request, because the municipality is functional and working „at full speed“.
The submission of a request for the recall of the mayor, that is, the formation of an initiative group of citizens that initiates the petition, precedes the very process of collecting and verifying the signatures of citizens with the right to vote for the removal of the mayor in the municipalities. At this stage, at least 20% of the signatories are required in order for the petition to be launched.
What does the Administrative Instruction, Article 5, that is, the part related to the work of the initiative group, actually say?
1. Citizens interested in launching the procedure for the recall of the mayor should establish an initiative group. The initiative group must consist of 3 or more citizens with the right to vote in that municipality.
2. The initiative group, before starting to collect signatures in support of the request, must notify the chairman of the municipal assembly and may notify the CEC. The chairman of the municipal assembly informs the mayor of the relevant municipality, the relevant ministry of local self-government and the CEC. The request contains the composition of the initiative group, the definition of the issue and the explanation of the request.
3. The chairman of the MA, no later than five days after receiving the request, considers the submitted request and registers the initiative group as an authorized body. In case of non-registration within this period by the chairman of the MA, the initiative group asks the CEC to consider the request and register them as an authorized body.
4. No later than five days after the registration of the initiative group, the chairman of the municipal assembly requests from the CEC an updated number of registered voters for the municipality in question, based on which at least 20% of signatures are required.
Read more:
An Initiative to recall mayor submitted in Leposavic as well; Radović: No party support
An initiative to replace the mayor submitted in Zubin Potok as wellA group of N.Mitrovica citizens officially submitted an initiative for the removal of the mayor, The MA chairman has five days to respond to it
Will petitions lead to new local elections in the north?
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
