The Central Election Commission (CEC) has returned an official response to the address of the three chairpersons of the municipal assemblies for the municipalities of Leposaviq, North Mitrovica and Zubin Potok, paving the way for the next phase - the collection of signatures, spokesperson Valmir Elezi announced.

Elezi has announced that with this answer, the CEC has also notified the Ministry of Local Government Administration and the Initiative Groups in these three municipalities.

He told about the content of the answers of the CEC.

According to him, the CEC has notified the chairmen of the three municipal assemblies, the three initiative groups and the MLGA (Ministry of Local Government Administration) regarding the updated number of registered voters in these municipalities, on the basis of which the minimum necessary number of signatures of 20% is calculated.

According to the Administrative Instruction of the MLGA for the citizens' initiative to remove the mayor from office, "the initiating group, within 30 days of being equipped with the necessary documentation, must collect the required number of signatures. This deadline can be postponed only once, at the request of the initiator group for another 15 days".

According to point 7 of article 6 of the Administrative Instruction, if after all the deadlines, the number of signatures of at least 20% of the registered voters cannot be met, the CEC finds that the request has not been supported and the initiative is considered invalid.

However, according to point 9 of the same article, if it is found that the request is supported by at least 20% of the registered voters, a vote is organized to remove the mayor from office.

On December 12, the three chairpersons of the Municipal Assemblies asked the CEC to know if the members of the initiator groups are voters in the respective municipalities and how much is 20% of the voters in each of these municipalities.