Local elections were held throughout

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Eur ...

on 26 October 2002, organized by the

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...

(OSCE) and the

United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) is the officially mandated mission of the United Nations in Kosovo. The UNMIK describes its mandate as being to "help the United Nations Security Council achieve an overall ...

(UNMIK). This was the second local electoral cycle held in Kosovo after the start of the UNMIK mandate in 1999. The 2002 local elections were held for municipal assemblies under a system of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

. Once the municipal assemblies were constituted, the elected representatives in each jurisdiction selected an assembly president, who was recognized as having the rank of mayor. (Beginning with the next local electoral cycle in 2007, mayors were directly elected.) The Serb community, which had generally boycotted the previous local elections in 2000, participated in the vote in five predominantly Serb municipalities:

Zubin Potok Zubin Potok ( sr-cyr, Зубин Поток, sq-definite, Zubin Potoku); is a town and municipality located in the Mitrovica District in Kosovo. As of 2015, it has an estimated population of 15,200 inhabitants. It covers an area of , and consis ...

Zvečan Zvečan ( sr-Cyrl, Звечан) or Zveçan ( sq-definite, Zveçani) is a town and municipality located in the Mitrovica District in Kosovo. As of 2015, it has a population of 16,650 inhabitants. It covers an area of , and consists of a town and ...

Leposavić Leposavić ( sr-Cyrl, Лепосавић, ) also known as Leposaviq or Albanik ( sq, Leposaviqi or ''Albaniku''), is a town and the northernmost municipality in the Mitrovica District in Kosovo. As of 2015, it has an estimated population of 18,600 ...

Novo Brdo Novo Brdo ( sr-Cyrl, Ново Брдо), or Novobërda and Artana ( sq-definite, Novobërdë or ''Artanë''), is a municipality located in the Pristina district of Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, it has a population of 6,729 inhabitants. T ...

, and

Štrpce Štrpce (Serbian Cyrillic: Штрпце) or Shtërpca ( sq-definite, Shtërpcë), is a town and municipality located in the Ferizaj District in Kosovo. As of 2015, it has an estimated population of 13,630 inhabitants. After the 2013 Brussels Agr ...

. In

northern Kosovska Mitrovica North Mitrovica, sr-Cyrl, Ceвepнa Митровица; sq, Mitrovica e Veriut or ''Mitrovicë Veriore'' or North Kosovska Mitrovica,, sr-Cyrl, Северна Косовска Митровица is a town and municipality located in Mitrovica ...

, Serbs generally abstained from voting.

Milan Ivanović Milan Ivanović ( Serbian Cyrillic: Милан Ивановић, ; born 21 December 1960 in Sivac, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia) is a former Serbian Australian football (soccer) player. He also played for Australian national team. Club caree ...

, the leader of the Serbian National Council in northern Kosovo, said that UNMIK had not provided guarantees that the municipal authority in Kosovska Mitrovica would be decentralized, nor had it created adequate security and institutional conditions for Serb participation. He added that the Serb community was not boycotting the elections in northern Mitrovica, as such, but rather giving the international community the opportunity to organize new elections in six months' time if the conditions for participation had been achieved. In the rest of the province, Serb participation in the electoral process was minimal.

Results

Mitrovica District

Leposavić

Velimir Bojović of the

Democratic Party of Serbia The New Democratic Party of Serbia ( sr, Нова демократска странка Србије, Nova demokratska stranka Srbije, , NDSS or New DSS) is a national-conservative political party in Serbia. Initially known and formed as Democ ...

was chosen as mayor after the election.

Mitrovica

Incumbent mayor Faruk Spahija of the

Democratic League of Kosovo The Democratic League of Kosovo ( sq, Lidhja Demokratike e Kosovës, LDK) is the oldest and one of the largest political parties in Kosovo. At the legislative elections held on 24 October 2004 the party won 45.4% of the popular vote and 47 out ...

was confirmed for another term in office after the election. He died of cancer in October 2005 and was replaced by Mursel Ibrahimi of the same party.

Skenderaj

Incumbent mayor

Ramadan Gashi Ramadan Gashi (born 15 April 1958) is a politician in Kosovo. He was the mayor of Skenderaj from 2001 to 2007 and a member of the Assembly of Kosovo from 2008 to 2011. During his time as an elected official, Gashi was a member of the Democratic Par ...

of the

Democratic Party of Kosovo The Democratic Party of Kosovo ( sq, Partia Demokratike e Kosovës; abbr. ''PDK'') is one of the largest political parties in Kosovo. It was originally a social-democratic party coming out of the demilitarised Kosovo Liberation Army after the ...

was confirmed for another term in office after the election.

Vushtrri

Incumbent mayor

Muharrem Shabani Muharrem Shabani (born 1949) is a politician in Kosovo. He was a member of the Assembly of the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo in 1989-90 and served as deputy speaker. In 1990, he was prominent among a group of Albanian delegates that suppor ...

of the

was confirmed for another term in office after the election.

Zubin Potok

Incumbent mayor Slaviša Ristić of the

was confirmed for another term in office after the election.

Zvečan

Dragiša Milović Dragiša Milović ( sr-Cyrl, Драгиша Миловић; born 1957) is a Kosovo Serb politician. He was the president (i.e., mayor) of Zvečan, a predominantly Serb community in the north of Kosovo on the border with Central Serbia, from 2002 t ...

of the

was chosen as mayor after the election.

of the Serbian National Council served as deputy mayor.Biljana Radomirović, "Београд тражи изборе на Космету, Унмик још ћути"
''Politika'', 4 April 2008, accessed 29 January 2021.

References

{{Serbian local elections Local elections in Kosovo 2002 elections in Serbia 2002 in Kosovo