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Five constitutive sessions of the Kosovo Assembly were interrupted, and two and a half months have passed since the elections. What does this mean? What can the political crisis in Kosovo lead to? What is the position of the Serbs in Kosovo? Finally, what does the Kosovo political scene look like
Two and a half months has passed maintenance Kosovo parliamentary elections. During that time, more of the same is happening in the North of Kosovo - the remaining Serbian institutions are slowly being closed, there have been arrests of young people, which is why the people of Mitrovica have protested, among young Serbs it is often heard that "there is no life here", Serbian list he continues to address the Serbs by means of a statement according to the template: "Kurti's terror over the Serbs" and could go on and on.
Political crisis in Kosovo it slowly becomes deeper. Five constitutive sessions of the Kosovo Assembly were interrupted. The President of the Assembly has still not been elected, and the proposal from the ranks of Self-Determination does not pass.
"The Self-Determination Movement is proposing what has always been our proposal. Mrs. Aljbuljena Hadjiu for the President of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo. Dear colleagues, please support the proposal and let's get out of this blockade," said Gljauk Konjufca from Self-Determination, the portal Alternativna reports.
However, Hadjiu did not get enough votes this time either.
The chairman of the constitutive session of the Assembly of Kosovo, Avni Dehari, said that 57 MPs voted for it (at the last session), 46 were against it, and 3 MPs abstained.
In order for the President of the Assembly of Kosovo to be elected, it is necessary that 61 deputies vote for the proposal.
At the third constitutive session, the mandates were confirmed, after which the deputies took the oath.
"I, a member of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, swear that I will honorably and devotedly perform my duty and represent the people with dignity, that I will work in the interest of Kosovo and all its citizens, that I will work to protect and respect constitutionality and legality, to protect the sovereignty, territorial integrity and institutional integrity of Kosovo, to guarantee human rights and freedoms in accordance with the law of the land. I swear," reads the oath taken by the deputies. Which also means the deputies of the Serbian community.
There are a total of 10 of them - 9 mandates are held by Srpska Lista and one mandate by For Freedom, Justice and Survival, whose leader is Nenad Rašić.
Self-determination has 48 mandates, the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) 24, the Democratic Alliance of Kosovo (LDK) 20 mandates and the AAK-NISMA coalition 8 mandates.
Other minority parties 10 mandates.
What does all this mean and is a political crisis in Kosovo on the horizon?
Director of the Institute for Territorial Economic Development (InTER) Dragiša Mijačić and coordinator of the Working Group of the National Convention on the EU for Chapter 35 told "Vreme" that the problem of constituting the Assembly of Kosovo indicates a deep political and institutional crisis that can lead to new elections.
"It is obvious that all political actors are dissatisfied with the election results, and there is no political will for a minimum of compromise, so many options are on the table. The only thing that is certain is that no one is in a hurry to quickly resolve the existing crisis," Mijačić points out.
"Kurti government three?"
After the election, Aljbin Kurti (the former Prime Minister of Kosovo) announced the formation of the "Kurti Three" Government. How possible is that?
Mijačić says that, in theory, both Kurti and the opposition parties can form a parliamentary majority for the election of the Government, so that in the backroom there are negotiations over which "empire" the minority and small parties will side with. "For now, it is certain that Nenad Rašić (from the ranks of the Serbian community) will go with Kurti, as well as three representatives of the NISMA party, Fatmir Ljimaj, but the decisive vote of the Bosniak deputy Duda Balja is still not secured. For now, the only thing that is certain is that no one wants to form a coalition with Srpski list", explains the "Vremena" interlocutor.
On the other hand, we have the return of Ramush Haradinaj, the former Prime Minister of Kosovo, who has been performing together with Fatmir Ljimaj (NISMA) for years. According to Mijačić, they have a stronghold in the western parts of Kosovo, i.e. in the municipalities of Decani and Junik. "This coalition won eight parliamentary mandates (five for AAK and three for NISMA), therefore it cannot have a great political influence, but it can be the tip of the scales when forming a coalition government."
Local elections in Kosovo are coming up in the fall, and the question is whether it is possible to hold the parliamentary elections again together with the local elections.
However, Mijačić explains that the electoral cycle in Kosovo is such that parliamentary and local elections are held separately, but this can be changed if Kurti estimates that he will achieve a better result if he combines the elections. "All options are open at this point," he says.
The position of the Serbs in Kosovo is extremely difficult
How does all this affect the position of the Serbs? Mijačić indicates that the position of the Serbs is very difficult and can lead to their becoming so passive that they will not be a political actor in Kosovo.
"This is primarily a consequence of the lack of vision on how to resolve the Serbian issue in Kosovo, but also the result of leaving the institutions in the north of Kosovo, which caused enormous and almost irreparable damage," emphasizes our interlocutor.
Dynamics of the Kosovo political scene
"Kosovo's political scene is quite dynamic," says Mijačić.
The main political parties are the Self-Determination Movement, the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and the Democratic Alliance of Kosovo (LDK).
Self-determination
The popularity of Self-Determination in Kosovo is not in doubt. Among young people, it is often heard that Kurti "introduced democracy".
However. Mijačić explains that: "Aljbin Kurti's Self-Determination Movement is a leftist 'national-socialist' party, but it is the closest to the 'catch all' principle because, in addition to leftists, it gathers ultra-nationalists, religious fanatics and various social groups with or without ideology. In recent years, Self-Determination has grown into the only party that is popular in the entire territory of Kosovo."
Democratic Party of Kosovo
For many years, the leading party in Kosovo was the Democratic Party of Kosovo, which was founded after the war by Hashim Thaci, the former leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).
Thaci and three co-accused have been in custody in The Hague since their arrest in Kosovo in 2020, writes KoSSev. Thaci, Veselji, Seljimi and Krasnić are accused of crimes, including more than 100 murders and torture, against Albanians, Serbs and Roma in 40 illegal KLA detention centers in Kosovo and Albania.
During the war in Kosovo, all the accused were leading members of the KLA Main Staff, and from February 1999, the self-proclaimed Provisional Government of Kosovo.
KLA officers Azem Sulja, Ljah Brahimaj, Fatmir Ljimaj, Sujelman Seljimi, Rustem Mustafa, Shukri Buja, Ljatif Gashi and Sabit Geci are also listed as accomplices in the criminal association.
"This party's popularity among voters declined primarily due to the corruption scandals of the party leadership. After the departure of Thaci to The Hague, the party was taken over by Memlji Krasnići, who in the last elections managed to achieve a slightly better result than in 2021, but it is still below the average of the old glory," Mijačić points out.
He adds that in recent years, this party has regionalized mainly in the areas where the KLA was active, primarily in Drenica and western Kosovo, while their popularity in other regions is in significant decline.
Democratic Alliance of Kosovo
The first president of Kosovo, Ibrahim Rugova, founded the Democratic Union of Kosovo, which is now led by Ljumir Abdižika.
"This party is similar to the post-communist parties in the former republics of the SFRY, it has a foothold in older members of the urban class and a more educated part of the rural population. The party lost its old glory, but in these elections it regained some of the voters it lost in the previous elections," explains our interlocutor.
Alliance for the Future of Kosovo
The party of Ramush Haradinaj, the former prime minister of Kosovo, AAK is the last among the major parties. "It is primarily a regional party with a popularity of between 6 and 10 percent," concludes Mijačić.
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