Justice in Kosovo discusses the privatisation of NBI Suhareka winery
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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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Kosovo Hopes Raised by New Electoral System
19 September 2007 Giving Kosovars the chance to vote for individual candidates in the
forthcoming polls has prompted prominent figures to stand - and may
result in higher turn-out.
By Krenar Gashi in Pristina
Halil Matoshi smiles while shutting down his computer on his
last day at work at “Express” daily in Pristina. “I’m running for
election as an MP”, he says with a sense of pride.
Matoshi, a
well-known Kosovo journalist, resigned from his post as the newspaper’s
editor in order to join the electoral list of the reformist ORA party,
led by another former journalist, Veton Surroi.
“I’m leaving a
job where I feel safe, and I’m entering something unknown to me, simply
because the time has come for us to contribute directly to Kosovo’s
future”, he explains.
Preparation for the forthcoming
parliamentary and municipal elections in Kosovo, scheduled to take
place on November 17, have got off to a smooth start.
While
many believe there will not be enough time for elections to be
organised properly, Kosovars have already noticed new, positive trends.
“It
looks like these elections will be different. I can already see some
kind of new spirit developing”, says Shqipe Neziri, a young student
from Pristina. “Candidates are more focused on grass-roots issues now
that they cannot run for election simply by promising independence for
Kosovo”, she adds.
The forthcoming elections will be taking
place during the international community’s latest efforts to resolve
Kosovo’s long-term status. A fresh round of negotiations is expected to
be concluded by December 10, and most Kosovars expect their long-sought
independence will follow soon.
Political parties have already
submitted their lists of candidates to the Central Election Committee,
which include many new names. The voting lists will be open, and for
the first time the electorate will be able to vote for up to ten
individual candidates - though in each case only within one political
party - for 100 (out of the 120) seats in the new assembly.
That
will introduce an element of personal choice in what remains a
proportional system. But previous elections were fought on the basis of
so-called closed lists so that citizens could not vote for individual
candidates, only for a political party.
Four elections, two for
the local authorities and another two for the assembly, have been held
in Kosovo since 1999, when NATO’s military intervention forced the Serb
authorities to withdraw from the territory and a UN administration was
installed.
Less than 50 per cent of voters cast their ballots
in the last elections in 2004. The old voting system is believed to
have been one of the reasons for the low turn-out.
Instituting
an electoral system with open lists has encouraged political parties to
nominate new, often popular figures to stand in the elections.
Besides Matoshi, ORA has recruited the prominent political analyst, Shkelzen Maliqi, and the famous actor, Enver Petrovci.
Other
parties have also brought in fresh blood. Vlora Citaku, spokeswoman of
Kosovo’s main opposition Democratic Party, PDK, has told Balkan Insight
that “there are many new names on the PDK’s lists”.
Citaku
argues the open-list system provides greater democratic choice. Her
counterpart from Kosovo’s governing Democratic League, LDK, Vehbi
Miftari agrees.
“This system stimulates an intensive dialogue
between candidates and citizens because at the end of the day the
candidates will be voted on directly”, Miftari says.
The
LDK’s junior partner, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, AAK, is
also finalising its preparations for the elections. “We have updated
our lists with many new names, mostly western-educated people”, says
Besnik Tahiri, AAK spokesperson.
Tahiri sounds an optimistic
note about the likely impact of the changes to the electoral
arrangements. "The new system with open lists will increase the number
of the voters", he says.
However, some observers are waiting to
see what the new ballot papers will look like, because adding the names
of individual candidates may make the voting process more complex this
time round.
While many candidates are running for the first
time, some more experienced politicians, including Prime Minister Agim
Ceku, have decided not to contest the elections.
“Kosovo’s
final status remains my priority and the priority of Kosovo citizens”,
Ceku said in an interview for BIRN’s “Life in Kosovo” TV show.
“I
am committed to securing Kosovo’s statehood, not to staying in power”
he said reaffirming his decision not to run in the elections.
Matoshi is among the new breed of candidates who are not satisfied with the work of current institutions.
“We
need to bring power back to the parliament”, he says, dressed formally
in a smart suit with a new look that is something of a shock for his
journalist colleagues. “The outgoing parliament has been invisible and
mute”, he adds.
Some of the candidates have already entered the
spirit of the election race with relish, although the official campaign
is not due to start until the middle of October.
At the
municipal level, where the electorate will vote directly for mayors for
the first time, candidates are not hiding either their ambition or
irony.
In their first interviews after they received their
parties’ nominations, some of the candidates for the mayor of Pristina,
Kosovo’s largest municipality, already bared their teeth.
“Who
is this Genc Meraku?” asked Shefki Gashi, Pristina’s experienced
current deputy mayor and candidate of the Democratic League of Dardania
about one of his rivals, who as an economist, is a newcomer to
politics.
For his part, Meraku, in an interview for “Express”, said that he had no respect for Gashi – other than on account of his age.
Talking
to Balkan Insight, Gashi dismissed suggestions that the atmosphere was
particularly tense. “This kind of thing happens in every country before
the elections”, he said. “I happen to think that the campaign is going
very smoothly here”.
Representing the new generation of
politicians, Matoshi makes clear he is feeling less relaxed,
particularly when it comes to dealing with long-standing problems.
“Prishtina
is associated with poverty, dirt and crime”, says Matoshi, criticising
the current government for not being able to make the city look like a
real capital.
“I live in a village near Pristina. Every day
I travel by public transport. I will be still using public transport,
if I get elected”, Matoshi says, with a calculated stab at many
politicians who, according to him, “cannot be seen because they are
hidden in their expensive cars and surrounded by many bodyguards”.
Matoshi’s
chances of getting elected - and living up to his pledge -are likely to
be increased under the new system which favours well-known candidates.
If the open lists encourage greater participation, then Kosovo’s
democracy will also reap the benefits.
Krenar Gashi is BIRN Kosovo Editor. Balkan Insight is BIRN’s online publication.
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Comments:
why now?
Posted: 2007-09-21 16:59:37,
The article claims that people can now vote for leaders for the new era after independence. But that is exactly the problem with these elections: nobidy is expecting Kosovo to be independent on 17 november. So my impression is exactly the opposite: the establishment wants to cling to power for 4 more years and wants to deny the Kosovars the opportunity to choose new leaders when the status is settled.