Deaf people in Kosovo, uninformed about election programs
Enver Kurtalani is interested in knowing what the political parties competing in the February 9 general elections in Kosovo have to offer their citizens. But he and about 10.000 other people who are deaf or hard of hearing have been left uninformed due to the lack of a sign language interpreter at election rallies or other events where the program is presented.
Deaf people in Kosovo continue to face challenges in education. They are often deprived of immediate access to various issues, as not all conferences are translated into sign language.
Kurtalani, director of the Kosovo Association of Deaf People, says they are aware that political party programs are not the same, but emphasizes that they do not know what they contain.
"Regarding the campaign and programs of political parties, we are seeing that it is a major obstacle and lack of access for the deaf community living in Kosovo. Regarding the programs, the deaf community is also very interested in seeing what political parties include in their programs and knowing their importance. In addition, it is our very basic right to have information about what their program contains during the campaigns and exclusively the program that they will follow throughout their mandate. Our community knows that the programs are not the same but we do not know their content, whether disabilities and especially deaf people are included in their programs. It is necessary and I ask all political parties to provide this access through sign language interpreters so that the deaf community is also informed about their programs," declares ai.
Kurtalani says that it was their request to have interpreters in election campaigns.
"Even during the meetings we had with the CEC during the campaigns and information on the votes, they used interpreters, but in addition to this, we also had requests and we have an agreement with the CEC so that interpreters can be part of these campaigns and especially the presentation of programs, but this time we are not seeing that the political parties are fulfilling this", declares ai.
The Council for the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms also calls for the deaf community not to be discriminated against.
Executive Director, Behgjet Shala, tells KosovaPress that a way had to be found for them to be involved.
"They simply had to find a way so that these people are not discriminated against. I believe that some solution will be found, but if they do not provide an interpreter, then we are really dealing with discrimination or a denial of this category to vote like all other citizens of Kosovo," he says..
Kosovo citizens vote for new leadership on February 9, after the election campaign that began on January 11 ends.
The spokesperson for the Central Election Commission, Valmir Elezi, says that the CEC, through campaigns, provides information to all citizens.
"The Central Election Commission must provide information to all citizens of the Republic of Kosovo, that is, to voters in different languages, in this case also to this sensitive category of citizens. Usually this is provided for CEC information campaigns, after we select the economic operator who carries out the professional realization of CEC products, while for other issues that belong to political or various entities, of course the CEC is not called upon to make comments", Elezi declares.
And according to Kurtalan, the deaf community is particularly interested in knowing whether the election programs include anything for people with disabilities in Kosovo./L.Avdiu
