Justice in Kosovo discusses the privatisation of NBI Suhareka winery
Justice in Kosovo broadcast a programme about the privatisation process of the NBI Suhareka wine enterprise, including high-profile suspicions about secret deals between businessmen.
Read more
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.
Read more
Kosovo factor delays formation of Serbian government
26 April 2007 Parties reluctant to form a cabinet because no one wants to be in office when Kosovo gets independence.
By Aleksandar Vasovic in Belgrade
Three months after the last parliamentary election in Serbia, the country’s politicians have less than three weeks to form a new government or face new elections.
The delay is not solely attributable to struggles over power-sharing. The political leaders are also dragging their feet because no party wants to be in power if Serbia “loses” Kosovo, following a United Nations decision expected in the coming months.
On Tuesday, the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party ordered its local branches throughout the country to start preparing for another round of voting.
“A coalition of [outgoing Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's] Democratic Party of Serbia with [the Democratic Party of President] Boris Tadic would lead Serbia right into the lap of those who are tearing Kosovo away from it, the European Union and the United States,” the party said in a statement.
“Elections at all levels are the best way to lead Serbia out of the crisis,” the statement added.
The party, led by the war crimes suspect, Vojislav Seselj, won most votes at the January 21 parliamentary election. But it did not win enough to rule alone, nor it could find a coalition partner.
Serbia has adamantly rejected the plan by the UN special envoy, Martti Ahtisaari, which envisions a form of internationally supervised independence for Kosovo.
Kostunica and his allies are now relying on Russia’s to veto the plan in the UN Security Council. But if Russia fails to torpedo the proposal, a future Serbian government might be obliged to implement its terms, infuriating Serbs who see Kosovo as their nation’s historic heartland.
“Kosovo is making a loud background noise and no one wants to form a government that would take responsibility for losing it,” James Lyon, a Belgrade-based analyst for the International Crisis Group, said.
Major Western powers, including the European Union and NATO members, are backing the Ahtisaari plan and saying more talks on Kosovo – which Serbia and Russia insist on – are useless.
But they are concerned that if Tadic and Kostunica do not form a pro-Western coalition and Kosovo gains its independence in the meantime, a new parliamentary election could produce bring the hardline Radicals to power.
“Parties from the so-called democratic bloc must realize that they have an obligation to keep Serbia on a pro-European track,” a Belgrade-based Western diplomat said.
“Kosovo is a story that is approaching the end one way or another and Serbian politicians should for once start caring about people’s welfare and not about power struggles,” the same diplomat added.
If no coalition wins the support of at least 126 deputies in the 250-seat parliament by May 14, President Tadic will be obliged to call new elections, Slobodan Vucetic, a former chief justice of the Constitutional Court, said.
Serbia also does not have a functioning parliament as the parties have not been able to agree on the appointment of a speaker or heads of committees.
If new elections are called after May 14, Kostunica’s caretaker cabinet could remain in power until mid-November, however, owing to the length of the deadlines set by the election law.
“Kostunica is not in a hurry. Why should he want to leave power when he can rule alone and does not have to be accountable to anyone,” Lyon asked.
In the meantime, the media is reporting that pro-democratic politicians are, in fact, hammering out a coalition deal following an allegedly secret meeting between Kostunica, Tadic and the former finance minister, Mladjan Dinkic.
“I believe they will ultimately form a government because it is in their mutual political interest; this is just wrangling over power sharing,” Nebojsa Spaic, of the Belgrade-based Spaic & Farmer think tank, said.
But Spaic agreed the long delay could also be attributed to politicians’ unwillingness to shoulder the burden of implementing a UN resolution on Kosovo’s independence. “Kosovo is a factor,” he said.
In last Sunday’s pro-government daily Politika, columnist Bosko Jaksic predicted that this reluctance to form a cabinet and take responsibility for the Kosovo issue could lead voters to swing towards the Radicals’ nationalist agenda.
“I greatly doubt our politicians’ sense of responsibility and cannot help but wonder why we now have no government, as the Kosovo issue goes into full swing,” Jaksic wrote.
Aleksandar Vasovic is BIRN Serbia editor. Balkan Insight is BIRN`s online publication.
THE PROCESS OF JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS AND REAPPOINTMENTS OF JUDGES AND PROSECUTORS
The report on the process of judicial appointments and reappointments analysis the flow of this process, specifically focusing on the bright and dark sides that have marred the process to its final stages.
COURT MONITORING ANNUAL REPORT APRIL 2010 - FEBRUARY 2011
Court monitoring report is published as a result of a continuous monitoring of all municipal and districts courts of Kosovo. The findings of this report are based on the monitoring of 2,147 court hearings, by BIRN monitors.
THE PROCESS OF JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS
This report presents the results of part of BIRN's court monitoring project, specifically on the process for the appointment and reappointment of judges and prosecutors.
Follow the Paper Trail
\"Follow the Paper Trail\", a guide to document-based journalism in Kosovo, explains relevant laws, access to public documents, how to publish safely, where to find databases on investigative journalism, and how to locate documents online through various search engines.
Courts Monitoring Report 2010
A detailed analytical report about the work and administration of the courts in Prishtina, Peja, Prizren, Gjilan, Mitrovica, Ferizaj, Gjakova, Decan, Vushtrri, Poduleva, Lipjan, Klina and Istog. The report contains important information, collected by the network of monitors, placed in the major municipalities of Kosovo and aims to identify the key problems and issues that the justice system in Kosovo is facing.
REPORT: Monitoring the Courts 2009
Monitoring the work and administration of courts in Prishtina, Peja, Mitrovica, Gjilan, Ferizaj, Vushtrri and Skenderaj.
DIRECTLY ELECTED MAYOR SYSTEM IN LOCAL GOVERNANCE
The report on Directly Elected mayor System in Local Governance aims to provide a critical overview of the rationale and feasibility of the implementation of a municipal governance system that places the mayor as the central executive figure, during the third year of its application. The efficiency of this system was assessed based on the following pillars: the relationship between local government bodies, accountability of the municipal executive, respect for the law, the link between the mayor and the citizens, provision of public services (water supply and waste management, capital investments (in school and road projects)), level of transparency, public consultation and citizen participation in decision-making.
BIRN Report on Monitoring the Education System
Report on monitoring the elementary and high schools in Prishtina: Mitrovica, Ferizaj, Peja and Gjilan
Analytical report of the situation and the problems in the University of Prishtina
Report on Kosovo`s Healthcare System
Monitoring report on all primary, secondary and tertiary (University Clinical Center of Kosovo, UCCK) healthcare institutions in Pristina, Prizren, Peja, Mitrovica, Gjilan, Ferizaj, Gjakova, Klina, Decan, Istog and Vushtrri.
Situation and the Problems at the University of Prishtina
Analytical report of research into the standards and problems at the University of Prishtina. Ten years since the end of the war in Kosovo, the University of Prishtina (UP) continues to suffer from a variety of problems, resulting in persistently low quality courses being offered. For this reason, BIRN conducted research into the problems faced by UP students. The data gathered suggests that, out of the many issues reported, the most significant are: the non-implementation of contemporary teaching and assessment methods, the lack of practical work for students, the lack of appropriate academic literature, arbitrary assessments by
professors and generally poor relationships between students and their professors.
Download Here
Buy DVD
Click here to buy a copy of 'Does Anyone Have a Plan?,' BIRN's feature-length documentary on Kosovo's final status.
"Life in Kosovo" debates also available on DVDs now!
Read more
Post Your Comments
Write your comment on BIRN debates and other activities.With the new web-site BIRN looks forward to receive direct opinions from our readers via comment section.
Read more
Balkan Investigative Reporting Network
The opinions expressed in Balkan Insight are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network.
Comments:
No comments have been posted.