These shows consist of over an hour of debate each time. They give specific information about the municipality at the start of each programme, and then tackle some of the most crucial issues that each municipality faces, while also analysing the political parties’ approach to these issues.
All municipal election debates can now be watched online, if you follow this link:
http://www.rtklive.com/etc/jeta_ne_ks1.php
It was not possible to hold debates in the three municipalities in the north of Kosovo, in Zveqan/ Zvecan, Zubin Potok and Leposaviq/Leposavic because the Serbian candidates in the mayoral contests in these municipalities have said they decided to withdraw from the contest.
Local and parliamentary elections are scheduled for November 17, and for the first time Kosovo’s electorate will have the chance to vote on the basis of an open-list system. In other words, they will not be voting for a party list, as in previous elections, but for competing individual candidates for the parliament, the municipal assemblies and for the mayoral posts.
The aim of the road show on the municipal elections was to bring face-to-face the audience with the candidates running in the election for mayor who were presenting their political agenda and arguments on how they would carry out their promises and meet other requirements after the elections.
Before the debates the Life in Kosovo team opened a telephone hotline and visited local media all around Kosovo in order to collect specific questions for each municipality from the citizens.
In this way people were encouraged to call in and put their questions for the candidates.
The shows were open to the public who could join the audience and contribute to the debates with their questions in written form during the first 15 minutes of each show. The questions judged to be the best were then directly addressed to the candidates running for mayor during the debate.
Over 500 people participated in each of the shows. In Lipjan/Ljipljan the audience numbered 900.
The debate on the mayoral contest for Pristina will be held on Tuesday, November 13, beginning at 14.00 in the Red Hall of the Youth Palace.
The “Life in Kosovo” shows on municipal elections are a co-production of Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN Kosovo’s public TV station RTK, Advocacy Training and Recourse Centre, ATRC and Institute for Advanced Studies, GAP. These debates were supported by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the OSCE and the UNDP.Local organizations will contribute to the production of these debates as well.