Prishtina, 8 February 2021 – The Ombudsperson expresses his concern regarding the selective implementation of government measures for the prevention of the COVID-19 pandemic, during the election campaign for the 2021 General Elections.

The Ombudsperson has noticed that since the beginning of the pre-election campaign, the anti-covid measures have not been respected by the political parties, while on the other hand, the institutions that are obliged to implement these measures have not reacted. This is a double standard that cannot be tolerated and it violates the equality of citizens before the law. In addition, the Ombudsperson expresses his concern about endangering of the lives of citizens for non-compliance of the measures.

The Ombudsperson once again reiterates the obligation of all institutions and political parties to respect the measures for pandemic prevention while inviting the competent authorities to take concrete actions for the observance of these measures by political entities.

The Ombudsperson based on the complaints he has received from citizens related to the election process include the verification of applications abroad, difficulties in downloading the ballot forms from the Central Election Commission (CEC) website, the citizens with the right to vote are missing on the voter’s list, as well as the non-acceptance via email of complaints by the Election Complaints and Appeals Panel (ECAP). A special request of voters abroad has been the possibility of extending the deadline when sending ballots by mail. Regarding these complaints, the Ombudsperson called on the CEC to review them, so that no one is deprived of the right to vote.

For all these concerns and in order to fulfill the constitutional mandate, the Ombudsperson is mobilized to monitor the election process and on this occasion informs all citizens of the Republic of Kosovo that the main and regional offices will be open on the election day, where all complaints can be delivered in case of irregularities that violate the right to free voting.

Elections are important for the country, so it is in everyone’s interest for these elections to be free and democratic.