Municipal elections were held in Kosovo on November 17, 2007, at the same time as elections to the Assembly of Kosovo, with a second round for the mayoral elections held on 2007-12-08. The date was originally set for September 1, 2007 by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Joachim Rücker (head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo).Al Jazeera English – News – Un Announces Kosovo Elections
The elections were held in all of Kosovo's municipalities, and, for the first time, local mayors were directly elected.
Joachim Rücker decided not to officially recognise the election results in mainly Serb-populated municipalities where Albanians were elected due to the Serb election boycott.
Main contenders Three Kosovo Serb lists registered for the election very early: Multi-Ethnic Council of Plemetin Kosovo Movement Civil Initiative for Novo Brdo and Zubin Potok
In total, 50 lists participated the elections. Many of the lists participating in the local elections were Serbian, as opposed to the parliamentary elections, where only eight Serbian lists participated.
Alliances The Democratic Party of Kosovo, which won the Assembly election, and the New Kosovo Alliance agreed in early December 2007, prior to the second round of the elections, to form coalitions at the local level wherever possible.
Results The results of the mayoral elections in the thirty municipalities were as follows: Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK): 17 mayors Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK): 7 mayors Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK): 3 mayors
Due to the Kosovan Serbs' election boycott, no run-off election was held in Leposavić, Zubin Potok and Zvečan.PDK wins second round of Kosovo local elections (SETimes.com)
According to the final results, party control of the municipal councils is as follows: Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK): 14 municipal council presidents Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK): 6 municipal council presidents Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK): 3 municipal council presidents
Turnout in the second round was 31%. Basic official results Detailed official results Preliminary run-off results
Results by municipality Gjakova District Gjakova
Deçan
Rahovec
Mitrovica District Mitrovica
Skenderaj
Vushtrri
Unrecognized results in predominantly Serb communities The Serb community in northern Kosovo generally boycotted the 2007 local elections. Although elections were formally held and results certified for Leposavić, Zubin Potok, and Zvečan, the turnouts were extremely low, the outcomes were not recognized internationally or in the communities in question, and the winning candidates never took power. The Prishtina authorities ultimately chose to extend the mandates of the previously elected Serb mayors in these municipalities, a decision that the mayors in question dismissed as irrelevant."North Kosovo Serb mayors reject extension of mandate by government," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 7 July 2008 (Text of report by Kosovo-Albanian privately-owned newspaper Express, on 5 July).
Leposavić
Note: There was no second-round vote.
Zubin Potok
Zvečan
Peja District Peja
Istog
Klina
Post-election developments Junik Junik, formerly part of Deçan, was upgraded from a pilot municipal unit to a full-fledged municipality in 2008. Tahir Isufaj of the Democratic League of Kosovo was recognized as mayor.Municipality of Junik, ecoi.net, March 2009, accessed 11 March 2024."Candidates for the mayor of Junik", Koha, 30 September 2017, accessed 11 March 2024.
External links Council of Europe observers' report on the elections
References