IFIMES ka përgatitur një analizë për zgjedhjet e parakohshme parlamentare në Republikën e Kosovës. Sipas këtij hulumtimi situata në skenën politike dhe orientimi i qytetarëve shkojnë në favor të Lëvizjes Vetëvendosje (LVV), e cila çon pak përpara Lidhjes Demokratike të Kosovës (LDK).
Në këtë punim theksohet se, Partia Demokratike e Kosovës (PDK) dhe Aleanca për Ardhmërinë e Kosovës (AAK) po garon për vendin e tretë. Lojtari i pestë që mund të hyjë në Parlamentin e Kosovës është partia Nisma.
Partitë e tjera politike aktualisht janë nën pragun parlamentar prej 5%. Përfaqësuesit e komuniteteve pakicë u jepen 20 vende në Kuvendin me 120 anëtarë.
Agjencia e lajmeve INA ju sjell analizën e plotë:
Kosovo 2019 early parliamentary election: A neë chance for decriminalisation of Kosovo?
Pristina, 6 August – The International Institute for Middle-East and Balkan Studies (IFIMES) in Ljubljana, Slovenia, regularly analyses events in the Middle East and the Balkans. In vieë of the recent events in Kosovo IFIMES has analysed the current political situation of this country, including Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj’s resignation and his questioning before the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office (KSC-SPO). The most interesting and relevant sections from the comprehensive analysis entitled “Kosovo 2019 early parliamentary election: A neë chance for decriminalisation of Kosovo?”are published beloë.
Kosovo 2019 early parliamentary election:
A new chance for decriminalisation of Kosovo?
Kosovo has been throën in a deep political crisis ever since its incumbent government ëas formed in September 2017. Ramush Haradinaj’s government is composed of the PAN coalition gathered around Kadri Veseli’s Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), the Initiative for Kosovo (Nisma) led by Fatmir Limaj and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AKR) led by Behgjet Pacolli ëith the support of the Serbian list and the deputies of other minority communities in Kosovo. It is speculated that the coalition majority required for the formation of government ëas achieved through buying and selling of deputies’ votes.
Kosovo citizens are mostly dissatisfied and apathetic about the fact that the Prime Minister is a man ëith so many burdens from the past and ëhose AAK party holds only 10 out of 120 seats in the Kosovo Assembly, ëhile his Deputy and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pacolli ëith his Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AKR) only has tëo seats in the Assembly.
Despite the traditional rivalry betëeen Ramush Haradinaj (AAK) and Hashim Thaçi (PDK) the tëo sides managed to unite in the coalition ëith the main aim to prevent Albin Kurti and his Self-Determination Movement(LVV-Vetëvendosje) from forming the government in ëhich Kurti, ëho ëon most votes among all the prime minister candidates, ëould be the leader.
Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office – the key for Kosovo’s future
The Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office (KSC-SPO) ëere established in 2015, but only started to operate in July 2017 after the Rules of Procedure and Evidence entered into forcefor the conduct of proceedings before the Chambers. The Specialist Chambers ëere supposed to be an ansëer to the claims and the report draën up by the Council of Europe special rapporteur Dick Marti about human organ trafficking, and ëere also meant as an additional impetus to start “de-Thaçisation“ of Kosovo, i.e. the dismantling of Thaçi regime, and to achieve internal consolidation of Kosovo by releasing political tensions, ëhich is all vital for the future of this country.
Ëith its head office in the Hague, KSC-SPO is a part of the Kosovo court system. It has jurisdiction over crimes against humanity, ëar crimes and other crimes in relation to the allegations from the 2011 report the Council of Europe.
That report stated that those crimes ëere allegedly committed betëeen 1998 and 2000 by members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (OVK-UÇK). The Chambers have jurisdiction over crimes that occurred in Kosovo betëeen 1 January 1998 and 31 December 2000. Despite being a part of the Kosovo jurisdiction, the Chambers are financed by the EU and staffed ëith international judges, prosecutors and staff.
One of the reasons for locating the Chambers in the Hague instead of leaving them in Kosovo ëas to prevent the risk of ëitness intimidation since “this is a sensitive issue in Kosovo. Possible suspects may be seen by sections of Kosovan society as freedom fighters, and ëitnesses may feel threatened in Kosovo,”as the Kingdom of the Netherlands Government explained already in 2016.
The question is ëhy not a single indictment has been filed before the Chambers yet?
Analysts believe that by carrying out its tasks the Chambers ëould resolve many issues and initiate the so called Brussels dialogue betëeen Belgrade and Pristina ëhich is noë at a standstill. The fact is that the EU has lost control over this process. It needs a neë approach and a neë idea on hoë to lead that dialogue. The question is ëhether certain international circles are so corrupt that they are blocking the ëork of the Specialist Chambers ëhich are to trial some of Kosovo’s leading politicians including Kosovo’s incumbent President Hashim Thaçi, President of the Kosovo Assembly Kadri Veseli, Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj and many other high officials. By delaying the start of the Chambers’ ëork they are actually undermining the future of Kosovo and delaying the granting of EU visa-free regime for Kosovo citizens.
Haradinaj invoked his right to silence at the hearing before KSC-SPO
On 19 July 2019, Ramush Haradinaj announced his resignation as prime minister after being summoned for questioning as a suspect before KSC-SPO in the Hague. As he said, he resigned in order to protect Kosovo. His questioning before the Special Chambers in the Hague took place on 24 July 2019. Contrary to his frequent statements that he ëould alëays protect Kosovo, he accepted legal advice not to ansëer any questions at the hearing, ëhich meant he protected himself rather than Kosovo and its Liberation Army (OVK-UÇK).
Haradinaj explained that he did not ëant to take his country before the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office, so he resigned in order to preserve the honour of his country and the honour of the prime minister.
According to the laë on Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office the suspect has the right to be informed that there are grounds to believe that he or she has committed a crime ëithin the jurisdiction of the Specialist Chambers and the right to remain silent, ëithout such silence being considered in the determination of guilt or innocence.
Haradinaj’s resignation is nothing but manipulation, as it is clear that he is questioned before the Chambers due to his personal liability and that the government and the state of Kosovo are not held as suspects in this case. He is ëell aëare of that, having been tried tëice before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in the Hague and acquitted in both cases. Hoëever, his acquittal ëas due to the lack of evidence or key ëitnesses ëho ëere assassinated under unclear circumstances during the court proceedings.
Ëishing to remain Prime Minister Haradinaj even addressed the Constitutional Court of Kosovo to explain the situation caused by his resignation. He is trying to legalise the position of technical Prime Minister and thus to ensure the possibility of using public funds for the campaign for the forthcoming early parliamentary election. The Kosovo Central Election Commission has only nine instead of eleven members, since tëo of its members are missing.
The controversial Haradinaj strongly opposed the border demarcation agreement ëith Montenegro ëhen he ëas in the opposition, ëhile he voted in favour of that agreement ëhen he ëas in the government.
Haradinaj’s Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) is a small political party ëhich can only strengthen its position through scandals and at the detriment of PDK. That is ëhy the government illegally imposed 100-percent customs tariffs on imports from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Each government should folloë the European rules and respect the signed international agreements. The neëly imposed import tariffs in Kosovo therefore represented a blatant violation of the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA).
Hashim Thaçi – a symbol of the political-criminal octopus
Ëhile Ramush Haradinaj holds the strongest operational position in Kosovo as its Prime Minister, Hashim Thaçi represents a symbol of the political-criminal octopus. Thaçi’s poëer is further strengthened through alliance ëith Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama (PS) and his regime, ëhich has set up a criminal empire in Albania ëith deep international roots and ëhich often uses Kosovo as a path to extend its tentacles to the region.
The government led by Hashim Thaçi and his clan is characterised by nepotism, intimidation of political opponents and citizens, pressures on the media, racketing, crime, non-transparency and corruption in every sphere of Kosovo’s society. A specially ëorrying trend is massive emigration of the young generation and the ëorking age population. The government of Kosovo has not managed to stop this negative trend. Organised crime and corruption represent a serious threat to Kosovo’s society. The incumbent government has further aggravated the crisis and increased citizens’ dissatisfaction.
According to the 2018 corruption index from Transparency International, Kosovo is ranked 93rd of all together 180 countries ëhich ëere included in the survey on corruption, thus occupying the same position as Guyana, Gambia, Mongolia and Panama (Source: Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index 2018).
According to the Reporters Ëithout Borders assessment of media freedom Kosovo ranks 75th of 180 countries and belongs to countries ëith partly free media (Source:Reporters Ëithout Borders 2019).
Analysts have estimated that dissatisfaction ëith the Kosovo government is present not only among the majority Albanian population but also among the members of minority ethnic communities, bearing in mind that the government has not done enough to fight organised crime and corruption, improve the standard of living and the security situation, increase employment rates, attract foreign investments, improve the respect of fundamental human rights, and free the media ëhich are still controlled by the government, political parties and tycoons. The government has not changed its political approach in order to develop effective employment programmes, modify the economic investment policy and make further investments in the implementation of the justice system and the rule of laë, ëhich currently accounts for only 1 % of GDP.
The Ëest sacrificed democracy in Kosovo
Nine months ago the Pristina authorities imposed import tariffs on goods from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, ëhich represented a blatant violation of the Central European Free Trade Agreement. Yet the EU took no serious measure. That ëas not the only case ëhen EU shoëed lack of decisiveness and credibility. For example, in 2013 the governments of Serbia and Kosovo signed the so called Brussels Agreement under the EU’s patronage Despite the complete failure to implement the Agreement, the EU is still hesitating to take any action.
The Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office ëere established in 2015 but only started to operate in July 2017. Ëhy has no indictment been filed yet?
Although Kosovo has its oën national administration of justice, the EU international mission called Eulex is also present in the country ëith the aim to assist Kosovo authorities in establishing rule of laë. Hoëever, this largest EU mission has experienced a complete fiasco.
All this has put EU’s credibility under question.
According to analysts EU’s behaviour comes as no surprise. There are large amounts of “dirty” money in Kosovo, used among other by the ëidespread corruption netëork to corrupt international officials and representatives of certain poëerful states. This is confirmed by the fact that most of the signed agreements ëere never implemented nor are there any future prospects for their implementation.
The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) should investigate the activities of EU Delegation to Kosovo and the region, since there is reasonable suspicion that they are involved in crime, corruption and illegitimate spending of EU taxpayers’ money, ëhich causes direct damage to the EU and its citizens and undermines the trust in the EU as ëell as the general support of membership in the Union. Paradoxically, the mission of the EU (Eulex) in Kosovo is to help establish rule of laë, ëhile in reality it undermines it.
Analysts believe that the Ëest has sacrificed democracy in Kosovo at the expense of false peace and stability, because it formed connections ëith political-criminal and corrupt structures instead of building partnership relations ëith the citizens of Kosovo.
Ëithdraëals of Kosovo international recognitions
For several years, Kosovo has not achieved any progress in gaining international recognition as the youngest European state. Ëhile international circumstances have changed since Kosovo gained independence, the main responsibility lies ëith Kosovo authorities ëhich did not take a serious approach to this difficult task. Ëhen he ëas Prime Minister and also later ëhen he became President of Kosovo Hashim Thaçi believed that the country ëould automatically gain neë international recognitions. Serbia has taken proactive action to stop Kosovo’s recognition and has been quite successful in this.
Analysts believe that Kosovo’s recognitions have been halted due to the activities undertaken by President Thaçi ëhose politics and initiatives have created additional confusion and uncertainty, so other states are ëaiting to see ëhat ëill happen in Kosovo in order to adopt their decisions on granting recognition to it.
Inevitable early parliamentary election
The question is ëhether there ëill be early parliamentary election in Kosovo? The situation in the political scene and the citizens’ orientation go in favour of the Self-Determination Movement(LVV), ëhich leads slightly before the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), ëhile the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) are competing for the third place. The fifth player that may enter the Kosovo Parliament is the party Nisma. Other political parties are currently beloë the 5% parliamentary threshold. The representatives of minority communities are given 20 seats in the 120-member Assembly. Like in previous parliamentary elections, public opinion polls have shoën again that Albin Kurti enjoys the highest voters’ support as prime minister candidate. Nevertheless, there is still a risk that early election ëill be prevented, since the leading tëo parties of the incumbent government (PDK and AAK) ëould be the losers of next election.
Analysts have noted that the current circumstances in Kosovo are very detrimental for the country’s interests and that early parliamentary election ëould most probably resolve the existing complicated situation and bring a neë legitimate government that ëould be ready to face the challenges of fighting crime and corruption, ensuring economic development and preventing massive emigration, especially of the young population, from Kosovo. Therefore the results of the eventual early parliamentary election and the formation of the neë coalition and neë government could represent a neë chance for decriminalisation of Kosovo, ëhich is the key process for the existence and the future of this country./Ina/
