MUNICIPAL PROFILE 2018 PEJË/PEĆ REGION
DEÇAN/DEČANE MUNICIPAL PROFILE 2018 DEÇAN/DEČANE The OSCE regional centre Pejë/Peć covers six (6) municipalities, including Deçan/Dečane, and has teams working in all of them.
AREA AND POPULATION 297 km² area The municipality of Deçan/Dečane is located in south-western Kosovo. It covers an area of approximately 297 km² and includes 36 villages Deçan/Dečane town and 36 villages. According to the 2011 Kosovo Population and Housing Census, the total population is 40,019 population 40,019.
Ethnic composition According to the census conducted in 1981, there were 39,179 Kosovo Albanians, 234 Kosovo Serbs and 898 Kosovo 1.Kosovo Albanians 39,402 Montenegrins in the municipality; according to the census 2.Kosovo Egyptians 393 conducted in 1991*, there were 47,669 Kosovo Albanians, 188 3.Kosovo Bosniaks 60 Kosovo Serbs and 603 Kosovo Montenegrins in the municipality. 4.Kosovo Ashkali 42 5.Kosovo Roma 33 According to the UNHCR statistics, 55 displaced persons have 6.Kosovo Serbs 3 returned to the municipality since 1999, of them nine (9) Kosovo 7.Kosovo Gorani 1 Serbs, 31 Kosovo Ashkali and Kosovo Egyptians, 13 Kosovo 8.Other 19 Bosniaks and two (2) Kosovo Montenegrins. 9.Not specified 66
(source: Kosovo Agency of Statistics) *The 1991 census is not accepted by Kosovo Albanians as legitimate.
GOVERNING STRUCTURES AND POLITICAL OVERVIEW The number of voters in Deçan/Dečane municipality registered for the municipal elections held in October 2017 was 42,4471, including out-of-Kosovo voters. The voter turnout was 39.07% or 16,584 voters (source: Central Election Commission).
The 2017 municipal assembly election results were as follows: The current seat distribution is as follows:
59.68% AAK Alliance for Future of Kosovo 59,68% 17 seats 17.78% LDK Democratic League of Kosovo 17,78% 5 seats 10.51% PDK Democratic Party of Kosovo 10,51% 3 seats 9.02% Vetëvendosje! (Self-Determination) Movement* 0* seats PSD – Social Democratic Party 2** seats
1. The overall population figure presented above is taken from the 2011 census (or authoritative estimates where the census figure is not available), whereas the voters list is a reflection of all people with a civil registration entry in the municipality. In some cases, the voters list figure is higher than, or similar to the overall population number due to insufficient updating of the civil registry or a significant proportion of people registered in the municipality but actually living elsewhere or abroad.
* Following the elections, two (2) Vetëvendosje! municipal assembly members resigned from their party and joined Social Democratic Party (PSD).
** In May 2018, members who previously resigned from Vetëvendosje! joined the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and assumed its leadership. This occurred after the 2017 municipal elections and for that reason PSD is not reflected in the election results chart, but only in the municipal assembly seat distribution category above. DEÇAN/DEČANE
MUNICIPAL PROFILE 2018 LEGISLATIVE PUBLIC SERVICES Infrastructure The municipal assembly has 27 seats distributed among four (4) political entities, all members are Kosovo Albanian; ten (10) are The overall status of infrastructure in the municipality is women. The Municipal Assembly Chairperson is Haki Shehaj assessed as good. All the main roads that connect villages with (AAK). the urban centre are asphalted. Deçan/Dečane town and 27 out of 36 villages are connected to the water supply system. The town and only seven (7) surrounding villages are connected to EXECUTIVE the sewage system. Power supply is still a problem, especially during the winter (source: municipal directorate of public services). Structure of municipal executive and the executive's political affiliations. Health The municipality is headed by Mayor Bashkim Ramosaj (AAK), elected for his first term as mayor with 64.3% of votes in the first The primary health care system includes one (1) main municipal round of the 2017 elections. In the previous term, the mayor was family health centre, one (1) mental health care centre, three (3) Rasim Selmanaj (AAK), who was elected in the first round of the family health centres and six (6) health houses. The health sector 2013 municipal elections with 54.26% of the votes. Deputy has 120 employees, including doctors, nurses and support staff; Mayor is Sami Cacaj (AAK). 84 women and 36 men.
There are 11 municipal departments. One (1) department is run All communities have access to health care and all health by a woman director: economic development (AAK), ten (10) facilities (source: municipal directorate of health and social welfare). departments are run by men directors: general administration (AAK); budget and finance (AAK); education (AAK); health and Education social welfare (AAK); urbanism and planning (AAK); inspection (AAK); public services (AAK); agriculture, forestry and rural There are 18 primary schools with 4,950 pupils and 352 development (AAK); geodesy and cadastre (AAK); and culture, teachers, two (2) secondary schools with 1,074 students and 90 youth and sport (AAK). In the previous mandate (2013-2017), one teachers and one (1) kindergarten with 43 pupils and three (3) (1) director was a woman (source: municipal website). teachers (source: municipal directorate of education).
JUDICIARY RELIGIOUS AND CULTURAL SITES Pejë/Peć Basic Court has a branch in Deçan/Dečane with four (4) judges, all are Kosovo Albanian; one (1) is a woman. Deçan/Dečani municipality has a total of 20 mosques, four (4) were destroyed and two (2) damaged/burned in the 1999 conflict Pejë/Peć Basic Prosecutor's Office covers the municipality and reconstructed after the conflict. Two (2) of them are non- (source: Basic Court). functional, one (1) was burned in 2016, and the other one remains closed due to lack of believers. There are two (2) Serbian Orthodox churches in the municipality, the Visoki Dečani SECURITY PRESENCE Monastery inscribed in UNESCO List of World Heritage and classified as a Special Protective Zone and a church located in the village of Ratish i Ulët/Donji Ratiš, which was destroyed in the The Kosovo Police station in Deçan/Dečane municipality has 57 aftermath of the 1999 conflict, currently only remains of the police officers, 56 Kosovo Albanian and one (1) Kosovo Egyptian; church are present at the site. There is one (1) Catholic Church six (6) are women. located in Papiq/Papić village (source: religious communities' representatives) As for the international military presence, Italian KFOR covers the area (source: Pejë/Peć Regional Kosovo Police) A total of 69 cultural heritage sites (archaeological and architectural) in Deçan/Dečani municipality are included in the ECONOMY € Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport list, as sites under permanent/temporary protection. The economy of Deçan/Dečane municipality is mainly based on agriculture and small trade businesses. There are approximately 2,083 registered private businesses in the municipality. There is KEY FACTS no reliable data on the number of people employed in the private sector (source: municipal directorate of economic development). In Deçan/Dečane there are:
• 27 seats in the municipal assembly distributed among 4 political parties • 57 police officers • 4 judges • 445 teachers in 18 primary and 2 secondary schools and 1 kindergarten