Gicaj: The Gora Community as Salvation for Ramush Haradinaj's Failed Government

He has said that this municipality is “created for the vote and survival of Ramush Haradinaj's failed Haradinaj”

In a long authorial article, Gecaj has said that unfortunately for Kosovo and its citizens, the post-war creation of new municipalities has been largely of the nature of political pragmatism and no functional nature.

“While municipalities created with the Ahtisaari Pack were imposed by the necessity of achieving and recognising Kosovo's independence, the establishment of other municipalities was made for the meski interests of our leaders and for votes, rather than after a comprehensive and thorough study in the interest of our citizens and our new state”.

He has indicated that besides Gora and April, 18 more requests of different communities -- which require the founding of new municipalities in their settlements -- are submitted in the MAPL.

“Now, the dilemma, very easily resolved, is whether we should expand local power in 58 municipalities, or expect the result of a professional and contemporary analysis, which would guide us towards advanced European democratic states and their standards for local self-government”, Gecaj said.

Gecaj has said whether Gora will be a municipality or not should be decided by the Parliament of the Republic of Kosovo, and only after the completion of the comprehensive professional and feasibility project.

We must, we are not right, and we dare not allow the creation of new municipalities for whims and the survival of any government. We can't continue to use “to protect the Haradinaj government at the expense of Kosovo”, he has said.

You can read the complete article below:

In Kosovo we have 38 municipalities. Based on the trend and standards of developed Western countries, this figure is considered to be higher than it needs a territory of about 11 thousand square miles [1,000 sq km] and with a population of less than two million people. During my time as deputy minister at the Ministry of Local Power Management (MAPL), the Swiss Government has supported a very valuable research trip to Wales, a territory that enjoys a kind of regional self-government in Great Britain, with a total of about 20 thousand square miles and a population of about three million; that is, in both parameters greater than Kosovo. We were told then by officials from this autonomous region, that they had 22 municipalities, but that within their local reforms it was intended to reduce this number to 8 or most of the 10 municipalities.

In Western developed countries, the trend is toward functional decentralisation, not geographic. The Republic of Kosovo, therefore, has to adopt this path, a system of local self-government that Kosovo municipalities, in this period, are recognised by more decentralised powers, more authorisations and more functional competencies, especially considering that local government is the closest and most direct contact with the citizen. Kosovo municipalities especially need more budgetary autonomy, as they generally generate only about 18 per cent of their budget from private financial resources. This autonomy, in fact, lies behind the reduction of municipalities in Wales and found in the Western world.

Wales told us that, given their long-term experience and objective professional analysis, they had concluded that it was impossible for small size communities to be organised at the level of the satisfying needs and expectations of a modern local government, which would be functional, advanced and completely professional. So, small communities, even in Wales, didn't have the necessary professional frameworks for all that range of government activities that would make a Welsian municipality completely professional and effective.

In this regard, and mainly with my personal insistence and commitment, we had managed to provide financing from the Swiss Government for a broad and ambitious project to analyse the feasibility of Kosovo municipalities. The project would not only limit the issue of the number and needs for establishing new municipalities, but it would study the overall and thorough functioning of Kosovo municipalities, thus identifying both achievements and shortcomings and needs for further changes towards progress and good governance.

Such an analysis was in advance with the Ahtisaari Pacon, but was never executed in a proper and professional manner. The package was designed to make an analysis of the functioning of new municipalities derived from that process on the eve of closing “supervised independence. However, for completely political reasons, to complete the phase of “the independence of monitoring”, this process had accelerated and such an analysis had never been made. The joint project with the government of Switzerland has that very purpose.

Among other things, at the end of the process of this feasibility analysis, it would be able to deal with certain clear and conservative criteria for establishing new municipalities, which would be based both on the need of citizens and on functional reasonableness and their financial stability. Although that would at this time be politically highly feasible on the ground, however, the analysis would also pre-empte the fusion of municipalities in the future, namely those who are not able to survive financially and function professionally as separate municipalities.

Unfortunately for Kosovo and its citizens, the post-war creation of new municipalities has largely been the nature of political pragmatism and no functional nature. While municipalities created with the Ahtisaari Pack were imposed by the necessity of achieving and recognising Kosovo's independence, the establishment of other municipalities was made for the meski interests of our leaders and for votes, rather than after a comprehensive and thorough study of the interests of our new citizens and state.

For purely political and electoral reasons, during his final mandate as prime minister, Hashim Thaci had approved the creation of six new municipalities in his cabinet, even though such decisions are exclusively due to the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo. Such promises, as well as many other promises of Hashim Thaci, had been swept away and covered with dust in government drawers.

On May 8th of this year, Prime Minister Kadri Wessel beat chests that he had established “ ” for the first time on the Kosovo flag in marking the anniversary of the Goran Community Day. The next day, during a visit, but in the Gora region, Prime Minister Haradinaj had expressed his support for establishing a new Gora municipality, and without any professional preliminary analysis. It is also evident that the Serbian List had consistently sought the establishment of two new municipalities -- Gora and April. Coincidence or not, on March 21st this year, MP Goran Adem Hoxha had for the first time separated his vote from that of the Serbian List, voting pro-law on the demarcation of the border line with Montenegro, without which this law could not pass. If these events are carefully observed and analyzed, the relationship between them becomes inevitably self - conscious. The will for the new municipality results, therefore, to be completely intentional and for “pazare” politics!

In addition to the April Gora, 18 additional requests from different communities are submitted in MAPL, which require the establishment of new municipalities in their settlements. Now, dilemma, very easily resolved, is whether we should expand local power to 58 municipalities, or expect the outcome of a professional and contemporary analysis, which would guide us towards advanced European democratic states and their standards for local self-government.

I will not now discuss the need or not to establish Gora's new municipality, since this would have to be left regular procedure and legislative processes, and entirely in the hands of experts and a professional analysis. What I want and aim now consists of underlining that Kosovo cannot continue with the establishment of municipalities either for Hashim Thaci's political and electoral reasons or for the need for Ramush Haradinaj's government's desperate survival.

Gora will be a municipality or not to be decided by the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, and only after the completion of the professional and comprehensive feasibility project. We shouldn't, we don't have the right to allow the creation of new municipalities for whims and the survival of any government. We cannot continue to use “to protect the Haradinaj government at the expense of Kosovo.