Following the November 17 elections, 23 municipalities out of 30 are heading for a second round of mayoral elections, scheduled for December 8.
Life in Kosovo broadcast 20-minutes debates from the smaller municipalities. Candidates standing in the larger municipalities had roughly an hour to debate the issues. Each of them faced a panel of journalists and civil society members who put specific questions to them about the problems of their municipalities.
Life in Kosovo hosted shows with the top two candidates of the municipalities of Pristina, Peja/Pec, Gjakova/Djakovica, Gjilan/Gnjilane, Suhareka/Suva Reka, Ferizaj/Urosevac, Mitrovica, Shtime/Stimlje, Prizren, and 14 other towns.
The purpose of the debates was to continue to bring the candidates face-to-face, and encourage them to share their ideas with the audience. They were provided with an opportunity to set out how they would carry out their election promises and challenge their rivals on key policy issues.
The debates in the larger municipalities were held with the participation of journalists from Kosovo’s leading newspapers – Koha Ditore, Express, Epoka e Re, Bota Sot, Lajm, Zeri and M – Magazine, who shared the panel with prominent civil society activists.
The debates were broadcast by Kosovo’s public service television, RTK, and are available on the internet: http://www.rtklive.com/etc/jeta_ne_ks.php
The Life in Kosovo shows on the municipal elections were a co-production of Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN, and Kosovo’s public service TV station, RTK. These debates were supported by the OSCE, the Balkan Trust for Democracy, BTD, and the UNDP.