Haradinaj's verdicts that could cost Kosovo with visa liberalisation

Kosovo's 2017 Progress Report, published days ago by the European Commission, mentions numerous impasses of public institutions.

In this report, political appointments and dismissals made by the Parliament Government on the boards of independent agencies were also cited.

The head of the EU Office in Kosovo, Nataliya Apostolova, while presenting this report, said such boards are naming close people with politics, while leaving meritive people behind.

She added that even decisions for dismissals on such boards are being made on political grounds.

This concern raised by the European Commission also damages Kosovo's path towards the visa liberalisation process, writes Periscopi.

This is after reaching visa liberalisation, according to this report, Kosovo must work on the independent appointment of Kosovo agencies on merit bases and at the right time.

The country lacks the power and capabilities to effectively oversee agencies and organs that report directly to it. The government and the Assembly must apply recommendations derived from the review of independent agencies that have been designed to rationalise the number of agencies reporting to the Parliament”.

“The Assembly has failed to appoint, at the right time or on the basis of merit, members of the professional board for some independent institutions”, says the Progress Report.

On some boards, there was a delay in appointing members, and others in which there were appointments were political. Such were the dismissals of some of the boards.

All of this from Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj's government.

One of the board dismissal decisions cost Kosovo except from an important European institution.

Months ago, the first executive, Ramush Haradinaj, dismissed the Kosovo Agency's Board of Accreditation, to later appoint the new Board.

This prime minister's decision cost Kosovo except from the European Book for Higher Education Quality.

No less scandalous was the answer August had sent him. ECAR, following the request for clarification of the latter.

MA UNMIK, had responded that the dismissal of this board had come after Prime Minister Haradinaj's order. He later during the Kosovo Assembly hearings had offended Blerim Raja, the former head of the State Council of Quality, where he had called it an ordiner thief.

Political appointments are made on some of these companies' boards, Periscopi notes.

In March of this year, the newspaper Life in Kosovo reported on the political ties of members of Kosovo's new Telekom board.

The selection from the executive was: Besa Shatri, Skender Hoti, Osman Ejupi, Sead Ujcan, Fidel Kransiqi, Susan Andjelkovic, four of whom had social or past political ties with the ruling parties, despite their selection was made before the eyes of the British, who had monitored the recruiting process.

Besa Shatri Berisha is the wife of AAKA MP Beka Berisha. Skender Hoti was a friend of Deputy Prime Minister Fatmir Limaj, Sead Wolfani was a friend of MP Mergim Lushtaku, while Fidel Krasniqi is part of Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj's party.

It was similar with members of the ERE board.

The government had recommended to the Kosovo Assembly four candidates for the board of the Energy Regulatory Office, two of which failed to meet the conditions for this position, and those were elected board members from the Parliament.

At one time, the appointment process on these boards also began to become nontransparent.

The government has kept the list secret with candidates who were nominated for members of the Trepca Board.

It was later reported that members of political parties and people with party posts were also appointed to this one.

Esat Peci had been the AAK's assistant in Mitrovica, even the head of this Dege. Feriz Fetah was the candidate for the Mitrovica assembly from the Fatmir Limaj Party, the Initiative for Kosovo. Ardian Syla during the local election campaign was seen at the PDK headquarters in Pristina. He is associated with PDK people, where he even published photographs with party chairman Kadri Veselin, wrote Life newspaper in Kosovo.

Political appointments also took place on the Board of Regional Water Company “Pristina”.

Bord was named Florin Dvoran, who was the Asamblist. The PDK's in the Comunal Assembly of Drenas.

All these appointments contradict Haradinaj's initial initiative, once he takes power.

Haradinaj, summoned to a decision by the Anti-Corruption Agency, had dismissed members of public enterprise boards, arguing that those appointments had been political.

E The AKK in its decision had found that Government Mustafa had named people on boards with political backgrounds contrary to the Law on Public Enterprises. The violate article required that members of the board of public enterprises have no position in parties in the last 36 months. /Periscopi