Newsroom
Certification of new Kosovo Serb entity for 2004 Assembly Election
PRISTINA 7 October 2004
PRISTINA, 6 October 2004 - A second Kosovo Serb entity has been certified to take part in the 2004 Assembly Election.
The UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Soren Jessen-Petersen, authorized in an executive decision the CEC Chairman and OSCE Head of Mission, Ambassador Pascal Fieschi, to approve the late certification of this entity.
The new entity has been certified as Srpska Lista za Kosovo i Metohiju (Serbian List for Kosovo and Metohija) or SLKM. As with the 32 political entities already certified, the entity will have to meet the same certification requirements, as soon as possible.
"While all technical deadlines for the 2004 Assembly Election have passed, the SRSG has granted full authority to enable an additional political entity," said Ambassador Fieschi. "This new entity must also now urgently meet all the same technical requirements which are set out in the electoral regulation and CEC rules."
The SRSG's decision is in conformity with Kosovo's Constitutional Framework which reserves the full authority to protect the rights and interests of communities. This action will help ensure the widest possible participation in the election and in democratic institutions.
The political entity will not have its name on the ballot, but the electorate who wish to vote for it - both in Kosovo and By-mail voters - will be able to write its number, 63, in a blank space at the bottom of the ballot. An instruction to voters was added this afternoon in all the By-mail packages. This instruction will also be at every polling station on 23 October.
The UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Soren Jessen-Petersen, authorized in an executive decision the CEC Chairman and OSCE Head of Mission, Ambassador Pascal Fieschi, to approve the late certification of this entity.
The new entity has been certified as Srpska Lista za Kosovo i Metohiju (Serbian List for Kosovo and Metohija) or SLKM. As with the 32 political entities already certified, the entity will have to meet the same certification requirements, as soon as possible.
"While all technical deadlines for the 2004 Assembly Election have passed, the SRSG has granted full authority to enable an additional political entity," said Ambassador Fieschi. "This new entity must also now urgently meet all the same technical requirements which are set out in the electoral regulation and CEC rules."
The SRSG's decision is in conformity with Kosovo's Constitutional Framework which reserves the full authority to protect the rights and interests of communities. This action will help ensure the widest possible participation in the election and in democratic institutions.
The political entity will not have its name on the ballot, but the electorate who wish to vote for it - both in Kosovo and By-mail voters - will be able to write its number, 63, in a blank space at the bottom of the ballot. An instruction to voters was added this afternoon in all the By-mail packages. This instruction will also be at every polling station on 23 October.