Life in Kosovo debates the level of corruption in Kosovo Institutions
This Thursday, Life in Kosovo will broadcast a debate on the network of corruption in Kosovo.
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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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Comment: Questions for Kosovars After First 120 Days
25 April 2007 Kosovo's destiny for years will be shaped by the way its citizens deal with
things at the dawn of their freedom.
By Jeta Xharra in New York
"When lemons is all you have, make lemonade". That was the advice that the
former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright gave to Kosovar leaders and
civil society activists at a conference in New York called "Developing a
Strategy for Kosovo's First 120 Days" held from 12-15 April.
We, the up-and-coming Kosovars, need to give it our best and most charming
shot, in other words, as we get closer than ever before to becoming a
country. It is exciting to live at such a pivotal moment. We who have seen
much war, loss and grief in the past will make it or break it in the very
near future
Those first 120 days, to refer back to the conference title, may define the
outlines of our society and country for the following 120 months or even 120
years.
This is because you can tell a good day by its morning. Kosovo's morning -
its first 120 days of independence - will be a closely watched dress
rehearsal for the drama (drama I hope, not tragedy or comedy) that follows.
Will our ship of state sale straight into the storm while we fight over the
wheel, or will we calculate wisely which way the wind is blowing and use
this to get us to our goal?
First impressions will count and will make the world fall in - or out - of
love with us. Moreover, the world will be looking for more than just looks
but for character and backbone, too.
One thing that became clear from the New York conference is that Kosovars
want change and are no longer in the same victorious and delirious mood as
in June 1999 when the NATO bombing ended.
This became clear from the amount of time we spent in discussing what we did
not want Kosovo to be like and what should not happen in Kosovo, rather than
what should.
Of course, ideally, one would want such a conference to be filled with
discussions about the many competing political ideas to run the economy and
modernise Kosovo.
But when this is too much to ask, establishing what you should not do is not
necessarily a bad way to begin.
The former US president, Bill Clinton, seemed to agree. "When you rule this
new country, every day you should wake up and think about what you should
not do," he said, addressing the conference on April 13.
Clinton spoke of not letting individual ambitions override the goal of
nation building and of the discipline needed to make Kosovo a "successful
enterprise".
"Even after 200 years of democracy we Americans get careless, and it comes
back to haunt us and we have to make amends," Clinton went on. "You do not
have that luxury; you have got to make it work in the first year round and
second year round."
The former president said Kosovars could do little to stop Russia from using
its veto in the Security Council against the UN plan for Kosovo's
"supervised" independence. It was pointless to waste the time over it.
Kosovars need to think instead primarily about a strategy to make Kosovo
economically successful.
International experts in the conference pointed to the three broad
challenges that Kosovo is facing. Firstly, Kosovo is in transition from UN
rule to self-rule. The challenge here is whether Kosovo is escaping this to
end up with little more than a form of joint EU/NATO occupation.
Secondly, Kosovo is in transition from being a province of Serbia to
becoming independent. The challenge here is whether just becoming
independent from Serbia is enough. "What you do with your energy, minerals,
telecom and economic strategy in general defines whether you are dependent
or independent," commented Ashraf Ghani, a former finance minister in
Afghanistan who now runs the Institute for State Effectiveness.
Thirdly, Kosovo is in transition from a Serbian-dominated society to one
that is mainly Albanian-dominated or multi-ethnic. The challenge here is
whether Kosovars are capable, as Clinton put it, "of not letting majority
rule turn into majority tyranny".
Aside from these broad questions, many smaller practical issues require
urgent decisions and attention during the first 120 days.
One is to draft a new constitution with enough public participation so as to
dispel the perception that constitutions are drafted by international
officials and that nobody needs to ask the Kosovo public what constitution
they actually want.
Another concerns the adoption of new state symbols such as a flag and a
hymn, a subject that the politicians have continuously put on hold because
of its sensitivity.
Then again, where will Kosovo's leaders and civil activists be in the first
120 days, when many foreign correspondents will be present in Serbian
enclaves, watching to see whether the Serbs are packing their bags.
Whether Kosovo's remaining Serbs will indeed pack their bags after
independence is a mystery. If they do, can Kosovo Albanians do anything to
offer the world an alternative picture of Kosovo?
How quickly will we organise the next elections and will they be municipal
or general elections? This is important; knowing the election schedule will
affect the restless opposition parties in the so-called unity team. So far,
they put the national interest above narrow party interests.
Also, Serbs tend to take part in local but not in general elections, so what
polls Kosovars organise first will matter in terms of their inclusion or not
in the new Kosovo.
What should be said to the donors at the donor conference planned soon after
the UN final status resolution? Albright suggested that Kosovars should
highlight the regional benefits of any projects they float. They need to let
investors see that they will benefit not only Kosovo but the wider region.
Kosovars need also to devise economic projects in which the Serb community
is also engaged.
Last but not least, how can we engage the public creatively in
independence-day celebrations? How can we plan them from an artistic rather
than a folkloric point of view, and so put ourselves on the world map at the
start of those all-important 120 days?
Jeta Xharra is BIRN Kosovo Director and anchor of the Life in Kosovo current
affairs programme.
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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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