[Prishtina-E] [Kcc-News] 1) Kosovo Braced for Autumn of Discontent; 2) Defectors from Leading Kosovo Party Threatened

[Kosova Crisis Center News and Information]

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  Kosova Crisis Center (KCC) News: http://www.alb-net.com/index.htm
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1. Kosovo Braced for Autumn of Discontent
2. Defectors from Leading Kosovo Party Threatened

### 1 ###

http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr3/bcr3_200407_509_3_eng.txt

Kosovo Braced for Autumn of Discontent 

Constant power failures, worsening unemployment and a pervasive sense of
hopelessness make for dangerous cocktail, which some say can only end in
fresh violence.

By Arben Salihu, Muhamet Hajrullahu and Zana Limani in Prishtina, Gjilan,
Mitrovica and Jeta Xharra in Prizren (BCR No 509, 30-Jul-04)

On a rainy Tuesday morning, 25-year-old Arsim Graicevci sits at the Kaqa
cafe in Pristina and tries to compete with the deafening sound of the power
generator by humming the line of the George Gershwin song “Summer time and
the living is easy”.

In fact, life in Pristina is anything but easy. “The whole city has been
without electricity for the last 18 hours and the water goes off for seven
hours every night,” said Graicevci, over morning coffee. “All that’s left
for me to do is joke about how life is supposed to be easy in summer, when
it is a far cry from the Kosovan reality.”

In divided Mitrovica, the town in northern Kosovo hit by violent ethnic
riots in March, the main square is filled with people mobbing passers-by
with offers of cigarettes and telephone cards.

Ismet, a telephone-card seller, says business is getting worse, “People
would rather go and wait in line in the post office to pay 10 euro for a
card than buy it from us at their own convenience for 11 euro.” 

In the worst-case scenario, Ismet and his colleagues walk around the town,
or just sit out the afternoon drinking coffees in bars, if they have made
enough money to pay for them.

As international donor money dries up, unemployment rises, poverty deepens
and Kosovo's infrastructure crumbles, there are growing fears that public
dissatisfaction may erupt again, on much the same lines as it did in March. 

Miftar Bala, a miner, 41, recently demonstrated his unhappiness by holding a
15-meter-long slogan in front of the Kosovo parliament on July 14 in a
protest organised by the Association of Independent Trade Unions of Kosovo,
BSPK.

Bala, a tired and desperate-looking man, and roughly 10,000 other
protesters, were demanding jobs, and better pay and conditions for workers,
as well as the privatisation of state enterprises. 

Zeqir Shkodra, an official in the BSPK, said the union would take more
radical measures in September if its requests were not met. 

“If our demands are not taken seriously by the international and local
institutions it might come to a boycott of the general election in October,”
Shkodra told IWPR. 

With 126,000 members, ranging from miners to teachers, doctors and civil
servants, the BSPK threat cannot be written off as a bluff. 

But workers’ protests are only the tip of the iceberg of social and economic
discontent that is affecting most Kosovars. 

According to a June 2004 report by Riinvest, a development and research
institute, the official unemployment rate has increased by 30 per cent in
the last two years.

While international donations fell from 957.7 million euro in 2000 to 120.2
million in 2003, the number of jobless rose from 208,000 in December 2001 to
287,265 by February this year. 

Riinvest’s research also showed dissatisfaction with the workings of the
parliament of Kosovo has risen correspondingly by 10 per cent in roughly the
same period, from November 2002 to March 2004. 

Public disappointment is likely to be reflected in a low turnout by voters
in the October’s general election.

Ramiz Muja, 73, from Gjilan, 45 kilometres south-east of Pristina, is one of
many who say there is little point in voting if neither local nor
international institutions do anything to improve living conditions.

The local bodies, says Muja, “say constantly that they have no power to
change things for the better in Kosovo but then insist we go out and vote
for them”. He asked, “What’s the point of the exercise?” 

A report on Kosovo to be published this September by the United Nations
Development Programme, UNDP, highlights the growing alienation between
Kosovo’s population and the authorities, both local and international. 

“Parties have become increasingly disconnected from the people, politicians
are not accountable and party platforms are superficial, neglecting the real
needs of the population,” the UNDP report says. 

The most dramatic statistics in Riinvest’s research work concern the
standing of the UN authority in Kosovo, UNMIK, and its leader, the Special
Representative of the Secretary General, SRSG. Confidence in these bodies
has fallen by 40 per cent in the last two years, it says. 

This is especially disturbing, as it suggests UNMIK may be on the receiving
end of public anger in the event of another outburst, as the public holds it
largely responsible for Kosovo’s economic and social development.

Isa Mustafa, vice-president of Riinvest, says the international community
cannot duck its share of responsibility for the economic malaise in Kosovo.

“The international administration has a whole department led by EU in charge
of economic development,” Mustafa said, in a recent TV debate, entitled
Let’s Talk About Kosovo. “It is they who are not doing much to create a
development strategy and policy for Kosovo.” 

UN officials, however, continue to insist that the economy is not one of
their priorities, as their mandated task is peace keeping. 

“The international community is not here to develop Kosovo’s economy,” one
senior official told IWPR. “We are a temporary peacekeeping mission that
answers to the Department of Peace Keeping Operations in New York, not a
government answering to the pleas of voters or citizens.” 

Kosovo’s prospects look even grimmer from the viewpoint of Safir Berisha, as
he sits in Prizren’s Shadervan square, which once overlooked one of the
finest views in Kosovo – a medley of colourful rooftops, old Ottoman-style
houses and ancient stone-paved lanes. 

Many of those rooftops were burned in the March riots, when some 700 Serb
and non-Albanian homes were attacked throughout Kosovo. 

Berisha, a representative of the War Veterans Association, uniting former
combatants of the armed struggle in the Nineties against Serbian forces,
says the current social, political and economical depression could easily
ignite into violence against the authorities, UNMIK in particular. 

“The Albanians once saw UNMIK as a patriarchal force whose word could not be
contradicted,” Berisha said. “But that ice was broken in March and as soon
as the first stone was thrown we sensed it would be easier to do it again.” 

Berisha, a local leader of the second biggest party in Kosovo, the
Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, says he speaks first and foremost as a
veterans’ representative, which he describes as “the most badly affected
element of society”. 

While the main, Pristina-centred political parties are losing touch with
people on the ground, more militant groups, such as his War Veterans
Association, are taking over the grass roots with their populist,
anti-international discourse.

“We have held more than 30 meetings with people in villages around Prizren
this year, we listen to their problems and we can see people are in a
rebellious mood, “ Berisha said. “They are very unhappy with what
international administration has done so far for Kosovo and have nothing to
lose.” 

What form Kosovo's discontent will take in coming months is far from clear.
The international peacekeeping force in Kosovo, KFOR, claims it is taking no
chances and has boosted troops levels since the March riots.

Nexhmendin Spahiu, a political analyst in Mitrovica, says the deployment of
more soldiers is not the answer to the problem. 

“This is just the calm before the storm,” he said. “But it can also be seen
as a chance for UNMIK and local institutions to improve both themselves and
the situation in Kosovo. If that doesn’t happen, another upheaval is likely
after summer.”

Bahri Shabani, leader of BSPK, on the other hand, insists that protests will
take a peaceful form, along the lines of the demonstration that the BSPK
recently organised. 

Either way, the current plight is not attractive to the kind of potential
investors whose funds might develop Kosovo's economy, and so reduce
unemployment and lower tension.

Shemsi Llapashtica, owner of a furniture workshop on the outskirts of
Pristina, says the poor electrical supply has hindered the expansion of his
business and, by extension, the employment of a larger workforce. 

“Machines break easily with such frequent and sudden energy cuts, and I
can’t afford to take on new workers who are going to spend hours every day
doing nothing and waiting for the electricity to come back,” Llapashtica
said. 

In Mitrovica, pensioner Ahmet Beqiri, 60, is convinced no improvement in
sight. “I have seven sons aged 20 to 34 and not one is working,” he said.
“We can barely manage to get to the end of the month with my pension and the
small social security payment.” 

The dilemma is whether the extremists on the one hand, or the moderate
parties and international authorities on the other, will succeed in
channelling people’s anger and frustration. 

For Ramiz Muja, in Gjilan, the only certainty is that the coming autumn is
not likely to bring changes for the better, “I don’t know if it smells of
gun powder, but one thing is for sure - it doesn’t smell good.” 

Arben Salihu, Muhamet Hajrullahu and Zana Limani are attending an IWPR
journalism course supported by the OSCE.


### 2 ###

http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr3/bcr3_200407_509_4_eng.txt

Defectors from Leading Kosovo Party Threatened 

Split in LDK ranks stirring passions, but unlikely in short term to displace
main party on Kosovo political stage. 

By Muhamet Hajrullahu in Pristina (BCR No 509, 30-Jul-04)

Edita Tahiri, once a high-profile member of Kosovo’s biggest political
party, the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, fears for her life after
deciding to quit and form a new political movement.

The former member of the party presidency, along with another woman
colleague, Edi Shukriu, abandoned the LDK to announce on May 27 that they
were forming the Democratic Alternative of Kosovo, ADK. 

In a sign of the violent passions this split has stirred, a shadowy
nationalist organisation called Homeland Security on July 12 warned those
leaving the party that their lives were in jeopardy.

“We warn all of you deserters that are trying to sabotage the work of the
LDK in the field that you will pay for this with your life,” the furious
message read. 

The letter writers made it clear they were targeting “women rebels” like
Tahiri who had left the LDK.

The episode has cast a shadow over the run-up to October’s general elections
in Kosovo, when the territory’s inhabitants are to vote for a new
parliament. 

The LDK, led by Ibrahim Rugova, Kosovo’s president, is the region’s oldest
ethnic Albanian grass roots political organisation. Since its formation in
1989, it has governed Kosovo Albanian society virtually unchallenged and has
taken more votes than any other party in every ballot. 

In the last general election in 2001, the LDK won 45.6 per cent of votes,
which was more than any other party but not enough to form a government
alone. As a result, Kosovo has been led since then by a fractious coalition
of the LDK, the Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, and the Alliance for the
Future of Kosovo, AAK. 

Polls suggest the LDK’s support has slipped in recent months, which may
explain why defectors such as Tahiri have encountered such fury over their
moves. 

A survey in June 2004 by the Index Kosova survey, a Gallup International
partner organisation, says more than 10 per cent of those who backed the LDK
in July 2003 would no longer do so.

Critics say the LDK is unlikely to regain the voters’ complete confidence if
it refuses to reform what they describe as its archaic, monolithic
character. 

After complaining that the police had not even contacted her – let alone
offered her protection – over the death threat, Tahiri says anxiety over her
personal security will not stand in the way of her campaign or cause her to
regret the split from the LDK. 

Outlining the reasons for leaving, she listed growing voter dissatisfaction
with the political process, manifested in the low turn-out in recent
elections, the lack of internal democracy within the LDK and an autocratic
management style, for which she blamed the centralist leadership of Rugova. 

“The March events made this split even more urgent,” she said, referring to
the outburst of ethnic-inspired rioting that saw several thousands Serbs
forced from their homes. 

“Since I did not manage to bring about internal changes in the LDK, though I
have been trying to do so since the end of the war, I formed a new party. It
is clear Kosovo needs to develop new political alternatives.” 

Whether any of these alternative forces will bite deep into the LDK’s
support base is open to question, however.

The ADK’s programme of “independence, peace and prosperity” differs little
on the surface from the LDK’s own platform. 

Voters may warm more to Tahiri’s claim to fight current trends in Kosovo,
which she says have made “leaders richer and citizens poorer”. 

The ADK insists the party will wage war on corruption in local and
international institutions and make economic development a priority, though
it stops short of providing detail of how this goal will be achieved. 

Analysts say this policy weakness may deny the new party the chance of
making a serious impact on the political scene.

Shkëlzen Maliqi, one of Kosovo’s leading commentators, says the LDK is not
likely to lose many votes imminently as a result of the breakaway group.

“This [new] political formation has had no time to consolidate its forces,
or to form a programme, so it will probably not manage to get more than two
seats in the [next] parliament,” Maliqi said.

“What would really have been an alternative for Kosovo voters is one big new
movement that would encompass all the new political initiatives, not many
new small entities which are unlikely to get more than 5 per cent of the
votes.” 

The other political novelties that Maliqi was referring to include a new
civic movement, named Ora, led by the prominent publisher and intellectual
Veton Surroi, and Azem Vllasi, a former prominent Kosovo communist leader in
the Tito era, who has now joined the Social Democratic Party of Kosovo,
PSDK. 

Movements such as Ora, the ADK and the PSDK will be competing among
themselves for voters disillusioned with the fruits of the LDK’s 15-year
existence and with the slow progress of Kosovar institutions since the end
of the war. 

The arrival of these initiatives clearly heralds a more democratic
atmosphere, but the best they can probably hope for at this stage is to dent
the LDK’s chances of forming the next government on its own. 

In the meantime, both police and politicians say they are puzzled as to the
identity of the unknown extremists standing behind the threat to Tahiri.

“I don’t think this shadowy organisation will influence people’s decision to
leave or not leave the LDK because nobody knows who they are or who stands
behind them,” Maliqi said.

Refki Morina, of Kosovo’s Police Service, KPS, told IWPR that the police was
taking the threat seriously and was investigating who was behind it. 

‘The Regional KPS Unit and the international police are covering these cases
but we have not managed to discover anything specific for the moment,” he
said.

Muhamet Hajrullahu is attending an IWPR journalism course supported by the
OSCE.

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