UNMIK/PR/1415
PRISTINA – SRSG Søren Jessen-Petersen today signed three Executive Decisions (EDs) on Provisional Assemblies for the Pilot Municipal Units in Junik/Junik, Hani i Elezit/Đeneral Jankovič and Mamushë/Mamuša. The EDs determine the number of members of the Provisional Assemblies (15 each) and also bring into effect the appointment of the individual members of the respective Assemblies. The EDs have been issued on the basis of recommendations and nominations of candidates made to the SRSG by the Minister of Local Government Administration, following a selection process which was designed to take the views of residents of the areas concerned into account.
The SRSG said that the decisions on the Provisional Assemblies in Junik/Junik, Hani i Elezit/Đeneral Jankovič and Mamushë/Mamuša represent “a visible step forward in the reform of local government in Kosovo”. Now that Provisional Assemblies are in place, the set-up of municipal structures can move ahead in earnest. “This is what the process of reform of local government is all about: bringing local administration and provision of services closer to the people, and we can now move in this direction in the Pilot Municipal Units”, added the SRSG.
The SRSG said he hoped that work on establishing Provisional Assemblies in the two remaining Pilot Municipal Units in Gracanicë/Gračanica and Partesh/Parteš would go ahead quickly so that he could follow up on today’s EDs as soon as possible. During a meeting with SLKM representatives this morning, the SRSG reiterated the importance of functioning Pilot Municipal Units for better governance at local level in Kosovo, particularly by reaching out to Kosovo’s minority communities.