Over €20,000 is the total amount of fines that the Election Complaints and Appeals Panel (PZAP) has imposed on several candidates and political entities during the campaign for the 2025 local elections. PZAP, in six decisions, has issued fines for violations of election campaign rules, including the use of inciting and hate speech.
The campaign for the local elections on October 12 is now in its thirteenth day and will last 30 days. There are 206 candidates running for municipal leadership, while more than 5,600 candidates are seeking seats in municipal assemblies.
Vullnet Bugaqku from the Kosovo Democratic Institute (KDI) spoke about PZAP’s decisions so far and the fines imposed on candidates and political entities.
“Up to this point, based on what I observed from PZAP’s platform, there are about six decisions with fines that have been imposed on several candidates and political entities for violating election campaign rules. Out of 17 cases I identified, six of them resulted in fines. With €7,000 in fines for inciting and hate speech, the initiative ‘Skenderaj’ led by Sokol Halili ranks highest so far; he has been penalized in two cases by PZAP for using inciting and hate speech. Second is the Democratic Party of Kosovo, for campaigning in public institutions and also for inciting speech. Next is Faton Peci, a candidate for Mitrovica, fined €2,500 for campaigning in public spaces, and finally LDK’s candidate for mayor of Prishtina, Përparim Rama, also fined €2,500 for campaigning in public institutions. These are the categories of fines so far, totaling €20,500,” he stated.
During the same period of the national election campaign, Bugaqku says over €100,000 in fines were issued.
Bugaqku: Only in the first 10 days of the campaign for the February 9 elections, over €100,000 in fines were imposed
“Unlike the parliamentary elections on February 9, in the first 10 days of that campaign, PZAP had imposed over €100,000 in fines. The number of complaints for inciting and hate speech was also higher than it is currently in this local election phase. In two or three cases, penalties were issued for the use of inciting and hate speech, whereas in the parliamentary elections, over 10–12 days, a large number of decisions were made penalizing political entities with very high fines for using inciting and hate speech,” he added.
Inciting and hate speech on social media has also been observed by Venera Gashi from Democracy for Development (D4D). She stated that during these days, they have monitored mayoral candidates and those running for municipal assemblies, noting that candidates targeted their opponents.
“During our monitoring from the pre-campaign period until now, we have mostly encountered hate speech. For example, in the first week, out of 32 cases monitored, 22 involved hate speech. Personal bullying was in three cases, misinformation in three, one ethnic or religious attack, and three other cases. Even this week and in general, we have encountered more instances of hate speech,” she told KosovaPress.
This election campaign is weaker than previous ones, says Mexhide Demolli, director of “Lëvizja Fol,” who added that “candidates’ programs leave much to be desired.”
“Half of the campaign has passed, and what has been noticed is a very weak campaign from almost all candidates. Perhaps central-level politics has influenced this, as central institutions are still not constituted, and the importance given to these local elections is not as much as it should be, given the problems at the central level. Perhaps central-level events continue to get more attention than local ones, which I consider a mistake because the municipality is the citizen’s first door to address their needs. Moreover, candidates’ programs leave much to be desired. The level of debates on TV and the coverage of the campaigns leave much to be desired,” she stated.
During the thirteen days of the campaign, Demolli added that monitoring showed debates with inappropriate language.
“All debates are being monitored. There are debates with expressions that we should not hear from candidates, in the few debates where there is confrontation among mayoral candidates of different municipalities. However, it is not at the most dangerous or alarming level yet. So far, I consider that the last week of the campaign will see this language of hostility more prominently,” she concluded.
For the local elections on October 12, 2,069,098 voters are eligible, including over 43,000 voters from abroad. A total of 93 entities have been certified to run in these elections, including 32 political parties, 32 citizen initiatives, two coalitions, and 27 independent candidates.
The last local elections in Kosovo were held in 2021.
