Gentrit Murseli, Gresa Avdiu and Besnik Shala have turned out to be the most active members of the municipal assemblies in six municipalities: Prizren, Gjilan, Rahovec, Malisheva, Istog and Kllokot, where DEMOS in cooperation with KDI have monitored the work of the members of the Municipal Assemblies for the period May 2023-February 2024. Their assessment was made according to nine indicators that measured performance based on the representative, legislative and monitoring role, which includes meetings with citizens, with marginalized groups, the number of issues raised in sessions of the Municipal Assembly, the number of legal initiatives, the number of proposals during budget hearings, the number of supervised projects, etc.

The awards are divided into three categories: the most active member of the Municipal Assembly – Gentrit Murseli (79 points), the most active woman member of the Municipal Assembly – Gresa Avdiu (57 points) and the most active new member in the Municipal Assembly – Besnik Shala (65 points).

Also, for the three categories, certificates of appreciation were also given at the municipality level for the most active members.

• In Prizren, the most active member turned out to be Petrit Hoxhaj (65 points), the most active woman member Dafina Alishani (50 points), while the most active new member was Egzona Hoxhaj (40 points).
• In Gjilan, the most active member was declared Gentrit Murseli (79 points), the most active woman member Gresa Avdiu (57 points), while the most active new member was Besnik Shala (65 points).
• In Rahovec, Ilir Pallqa was awarded with double certificates, both as the most active member and as the most active new member (59 points), while Dafina Gashi was awarded as the most active woman member for this municipality (37 points).
• In Malisheva, Amrush Helshani also received two certificates, as the most active member of the Municipal Assembly and as the most active new member with the first mandate (52 points), while the most active woman member was Agnesa Kastrati (15 points).
• In Istog there was also one winner for two categories, Niman Beqiraj as the most active member of the Municipal Assembly and the most active new member (40 points), while Arta Balaj was awarded as the most active woman member of the Municipal Assembly of Istog  (26 points).

In Kllokot, Admirim Etemi was awarded as the most active member of the Municipal Assembly as well as the most active new member (28 points), while Dragana Jerinić was rated as the most active woman member (7 points).

The awards ceremony was attended by the Deputy Minister of Local Government Administration, Mr. Avdulah Djesevic, as well as the ambassadors of the European Union, Switzerland, and Sweden, who are donors of the DEMOS project.

Deputy Minister Djesevic congratulated the members of the Municipal Assemblies who have shown positive results during the monitoring and and highly praised their work. “Municipal assemblies have an important role in the successful management of the municipality as the main decision-making body”, he added.

The head of the EU Office, Tomáš Szunyog said that the members of the Municipal Assemblies are elected to represent the people and make decisions on their behalf. “I commend you for demonstrating this commitment by being open to citizens’ contributions and actively raising their concerns, ensuring transparency and accountability in decision-making processes”, emphasized Ambassador Szunyog. 

Speaking about Switzerland’s many years of support in Kosovo in the field of local government, the Swiss ambassador, Jürg Sprecher, in his speech to the members of the Municipal Assemblies, said: “You are close to the citizens, you can identify their concerns and interests, and turn some of them into political processes. By doing this, you ensure that the needs of the community are heard and integrated into decision-making. This not only leads to better decisions, but empowers community members to feel that they have a role in shaping the future of their municipality.”

The Ambassador of Sweden in Kosovo, Jonas Westerlund, expressed his satisfaction with the performance of the members of the Municipal Assemblies in the monitored municipalities, underlining their supervisory role. “Regular evaluation of project progress is a cornerstone of effective governance. Municipal Assembly members play a crucial role in this regard, diligently assessing the advancement of initiatives, identifying any challenges or delays, and implementing corrective measures as necessary to keep projects on track and within scop”, said Ambassador Westerlund.

This was the first time that the DEMOS project has monitored the work of members of Municipal Assemblies, focusing on six municipalities that have expressed interest in being part of this process. The selection of municipalities was made taking into account the territorial size, ensuring the inclusion of large, medium and small municipalities, as well as political and ethnic diversity in the leadership of these municipalities.

You can find the full results from the monitoring report here