No Government of Kosovo, Government Is of Vetevendosje

It says: Adil Behraj

On Wednesday, 25 March, midnight had not yet fallen when he and his government were dismissed with the vote of 82 Kosovo Parliament deputies. Two-thirds of parliament gave the latest blow to policy and irresponsible governance.

An hour later, when he had just been delegated, he put 100 per cent control over the Government of Kosovo, turning it de facto into a one-party government into Kosovo parliamentary democracy.

So Albin Kurti responded to the vote of the absolute majority of MPs. He mocked and despised parliamentary democracy in Kosovo. Now, although dismissed by the absolute majority after only 51 days in power, he has no intention of accepting this will of the representatives of the people in the Kosovo Assembly, with far greater legitimacy in the 6 October elections than Albin Kurti himself.

It aims to remain at the helm of the government, rejecting any previous constitutional and legal procedure for the appointment of a new Government.

There's almost a plan. He is willing to be Prime Minister of the Monist Government by the new parliamentary elections, which are intended to hold on to past the Devov-19 pandemic crisis in Kosovo. In the meantime, it wants to use all government infrastructure to create favourable circumstances for winning them. But his plan does not end with that, because he has been thinking about Vjosa Osman. She wants full control over the LDK, so that this political subject could be a Sistership of the Vetevendosje Movement, making it an eye-to-face partner, as per the formal criterion of democracy in which Albin Kurti does not believe at all.

Vjosa Osman's longing to take over the leadership of the LDK had been preceded by this temptation, but that her powerlessness was also witnessed during the vote of confidence that brought down the Kurti Government, unable to control more than two deputies within its subject. This was an indication of its real force, which may be eloquent, but it's highly deficitent in the leadership's ability to get people to run after it.

But, as the political scene and public opinion in the past ten days was dealt with by the political and governing mess created by him, the dismissed prime minister was unable to change the composition of his government substantially.

When it was voted in the Assembly on 3 February, with the support of 66 deputies or 16 less than the number who voted for its collapse, the composition of the Kurti Government was with 8 representatives of the Vetevendosje Movement, including the prime minister himself, 7 LDK representatives, 2 of the Serb community and 1 of the Bosnian community.

In this way political balance was created, which was the basic principle of Isa Mustaf's LDK, when the election outcome was known, where Vetevendosje received 29 mandates and the LDK 28 sosh. So, by contrast, only one MP mandate, which in this case is about the mandate of Mimoza Kusari, which seems to be not feeling good as part of them, because it's complaining about why it's not invited on behalf of the alternative for necessary consultations.

In the early hours of March 26th, following the dismissal of Deputy Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti, about a week after Minister Agim Veliu of the LDK ranks, who had been replaced by Jedal Svecla of Vetevendosje and not by the LDK's Bajram Gecaj, the composition of the Kosovo Government had undergone very substantial change. Now we have 17 members of the Kurti cabinet, where 9 of them are from Vetevendosje, 5 from LDK, 2 from the Serb community and 1 from the Bosniak community.

So the Vetevendosje Movement from March 26th has an absolute majority in the Government of Kosovo, and the prime minister objectively dismissed can do whatever he wants in terms of executive decision making.

He's already put a real monopoly on government decision making and actually turned it into a one-party government.

That is technical and political truth with developments in the Government of Kosovo.

This Government, therefore, with its actual composition is forging the will of Kosovo citizens expressed in the 6 October elections. Albin Kurti has usurped full power in this government with only 26.2% of the vote.

Something like that is unprecedented in the history of parliamentary democracy in Kosovo.

And, he's already taking on power in the name of the LDK.

And the latter, in order to preserve the reputation of the reformist and institutionalist party, probably does not intend to get out of this government, despite its now highly symbolic role and despite the fact that Albin Kurti has also killed the illusion that this Government was partnership between the two parties that won the most votes in the last elections.

The real reality that this government is a party can be covered more days. But all other Albanian, parliamentary and non-parliamentary parties must be willing to defend democracy with all constitutional, legal and political means against a dismissed prime minister aimed at installing monism in Kosovo.

A new government should be established as soon as possible in Kosovo, not only as the natural epilogue of the collapse of this government in the Kosovo Assembly, but also as guarantor of democracy in the Republic of Kosovo.

(Autori is political adviser to President Thaci. The attitudes expressed are personal. )