Life in Kosovo discusses about emergency situations
Tonight, Life in Kosovo will broadcast a debate on the emergency situations in our country.
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Every Thursday starting from 20:30, Radio Television Kosovo, RTK, broadcasts the TV debate show "Life in Kosovo", a joint production of BIRN and RTK.
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Life in Kosovo debates the rule of law at the local level
15 April 2010 Life in Kosovo discussed the rule of law at municipal level.
Questions covered included: How do the newly created municipal governments function? Is the law obeyed by municipal assemblies? Does the central government intervene in municipal competencies and work? What is happening in Viti municipality? Why does part of the municipal assembly of Prizren dispute the Constitutional Court’s order to change the municipality’s emblem?
To discuss these issues and others, host Muhamet Hajrullahu was joined in the studio by:
Besnik Osmani – Permanent secretary at the Ministry of Local Government Administration
Zafir Berisha – Member of Kosovo’s Assembly
Hajrulla Çeku – an academic of local governance
Xhevat Bislimi – former vice-president of Viti municipality
The debate began with Mr Bislimi being asked why he resigned as vice-president of Viti municipality, and what had happened in the municipal education department, which had suffered a fire the previous week.
He replied that, because Viti is part of Kosovo, it has many problems flowing from the national constitution and various laws. Explaining his resignation, he claimed that “I resigned because of heavy political pressure on me, and violence against the [government of the] municipality and its institutions established on a legal base.”
As stated in his letter of resignation, which was sent to various media companies, Mr Bislimi claimed that the reason he would not continue working as vice-president because “organised crime is more powerful than the competent institutions and the country power,” adding that “the decisions of courts…in the municipality of Viti are made in favour of organised crime, people with political influence, and those with greater economic status.”
Talking about the municipal education department’s building, which recently set on fire, Mr. Bislimi added that it seems as though the municipal officials do not have sufficient power to implement the rule of law.
Despite the fact that Viti municipal court, Gjilan district court and the EULEX court have issued a decision that the building should belong to Drenusha, the municipality did not respect this, keeping the education department there for two years because, Mr Bislimi claimed, the building has always belonged to the municipality, and the government has the right to use it for its own purposes.
He added that the decisions of the municipal and district court have changed from time to time, so their decisions were not taken into account.
On the question of who was responsible for the fire, Mr. Bislimi said that the answer should be
reached by the police and the courts.
Besnik Osmani, asked how he sees the events in Viti, claimed that the main obligation of the Ministry of Local Government Administration is to monitor the work and progress of each municipality, and that he personally is not a legal professional so cannot evaluate matters on such grounds.
However, he went on to say that all municipalities face difficulties in implementing the rule of law. Further, Mr. Osmani added that, regarding the decisions of the two courts, the courts are responsible for the function of law, not his ministry.
Asked about the ministry’s procedures for ensuring the respect of the rule of law at municipal level, Mr. Osmani replied that currently only three relevant local governance laws are in force, and those only for around 18 months.
“Even in the most developed countries, the implementation of local governance laws takes time for them to function at their best,” he concluded.
Zafir Berisha, a member of the Assembly who has recently resigned from the Democratic Party of Kosovo, was asked about his claims on the local vice-presidential appointments.
He argued that “as a member of the parliament and an ordinary citizen, I’m in favour of the implementation of the law on local governance, and the implementation of law in the country in general.”
He went on to mention the case of Prizren municipality, where someone had been appointed to a position in the local government by phone call, which does not reflect good functioning of law in general.
Hajrulla Çeku from Prizren, said that even though many bad things have happened in many municipalities, there is still hope shown in the individuals who have resigned from local positions to escape negative pressure from their leaders.
Furthermore, he stated his belief that the role of the Ministry of Local Governance is to monitor the implementation of the law and the constitution.
Other reports
After the debate, BIRN broadcast an interview with Behar Selimi, the acting general director of Kosovo’s Police. Later, journalist Edona Musa presented the measures taken by the Inspectorate for Health Care, Medical Equipment and Products against unlicensed pharmacies, which were revealed in the last episode of Life in Kosovo.
In another investigative report, Musa talked about the one-month failure of a university to publish the results of applications for graduate studies.
Life in Kosovo is a co-production between Kosovo Public Television, RTK and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN. It is broadcast every Thursday, starting at 20:20.
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The opinions expressed in Balkan Insight are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network.
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