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Kosovars Go To Polls In Snap Elections

By RFE/RL October 05, 2019

PRISTINA – Voters in Kosovo are going to the polls on October 6 in snap elections dominated by corruption, high unemployment, and poor relations with neighboring Serbia.

Some 1.9 million people are eligible to vote to elect 120 lawmakers in what will be Kosovo's fifth election since it declared independence from Serbia in 2008.

Kosovo has Europe's youngest population with an average age of 29, and economic growth has averaged four percent over the past decade. But it remains very poor -- unemployment is 25 percent -- and more than 200,000 Kosovars have left and applied for asylum in the European Union since Pristina won its independence.

The election was triggered by the resignation of Prime Minister Haradinaj in July after war crimes prosecutors at The Hague summoned him for questioning over his wartime role with the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).

Public dissatisfaction with the record of Haradinaj's three-party governing coalition has boosted the chances of opposition parties, with the center-right Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and the nationalist, left-leaning Vetevendosje vying for first place.

The LDK's candidate for prime minister, Vjosa Osmani, told RFE/RL's Balkan Service that her election as Kosovo's first female prime minister could be "transformative not only for the institutions of Kosovo but for society as a whole."

Osmani vowed to usher in a "new mindset" and ruled out governing alongside the long-in-power Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) after partnering with it in the recent three-party coalition.

She also pledged to "instead of investing the bulk of the budget in asphalt," her government would "completely turn its focus to investing in human capital."

Other potential prime ministers are thought to include Haradinaj, running for the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) and packaging himself as a seasoned "21st-century statesman"; PDK leader Kadri Veseli, who as parliamentary speaker dissolved the legislature to set the stage for these elections; Fatmir Limaj, a deputy prime minister in the outgoing coalition and leader of the Social Democratic Initiative (NISMA); and Albin Kurti, leader of the nationalist Self-Determination (Vetevendosje) party, which has used extreme methods like throwing tear gas and water bottles in parliament to protest against deals with Serbia.

All candidates except Osmani are former fighters of the Kosovo Liberation Army, which triggered the 1998-1999 war that ended when NATO intervened on behalf of the ethnic Albanian majority.

Ten seats of the 120 are reserved for ethnic Serbs and another ten are set aside for other minorities, including ethnic Turks and Roma.

Kosovo's independence has been recognized by more than 110 states but not by others, including five EU members, as well as Serbia, Russia, and China. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced during last month's UN General Assembly that he was "working on new withdrawals of recognition" from some UN states.

European Union-sponsored talks aimed at normalizing ties between the two countries stalled last year over Kosovo's decision to impose a 100 percent tax on goods from Serbia.

The EU has sent a 61-member team of observers for the election to show that Pristina "remains a political priority."

The EU regards Kosovo as at a crossroads, but Brussels' leverage is limited amid an ongoing Brexit debate, some members' reluctance to recognize Kosovo, and little prospect of early entry for aspiring members.

So Haradinaj and others have largely sought to tap into voters' perceptions of Western support for Kosovo via the United States.

Haradinaj, endorsed by two of the outgoing ruling coalition's parties, has publicly declared his good relations with Americans while at the same time suggesting that Washington is an ally of Kosovo but not of all Kosovar politicians.

Billboards for the PDK variously showed party leader Veseli next to U.S. President Donald Trump and ex-President Bill Clinton, whose decision to intervene militarily in 1999 won him lasting admirers in Kosovo.

U.S. and European officials have repeatedly dismissed the idea that they supported any particular sides in Kosovo's election.

But the potential for even unofficial American influence among Kosovar voters was thrust into sharper relief this week by a campaign appearance in Pristina by Trump's former acting attorney general, Matthew Whitaker, for the PDK.

Whitaker, now a political consultant, expressed support for his "friend" Veseli at an October 1 rally as a potential "prime minister that looks to the United States for friendship and support."

Not to be outdone, the leader of Kosovar independence icon Ibrahim Rugova's former party, the Democratic League of Kosovo chief Isa Mustafa, responded that "if anyone is with America, it is the Democratic League of Kosovo," adding that the PDK's billboards were an "abuse" of U.S. prestige.

The U.S. Embassy in Pristina was quick to reiterate that it didn't "endorse or support" any one candidate or party in the Kosovo vote.

In August, the so-called Quint states -- Italy, France, Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom -- challenged Pristina and Belgrade to restart talks "with urgency" and said the current stalemate is "not sustainable."

And Washington showed its concern with the quagmire when the White House announced on October 3 that Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Germany, was named as the special envoy for Serbia and Kosovo peace negotiations.

That suggests that no matter who next takes the reins of government in Kosovo, they will immediately face tough decisions about how and when to reengage with neighbor Serbia and the rest of Europe.

But there's no telling whether that's sufficient incentive for Kosovo's voters.

"I'm selling nine votes or exchanging them for Golf 2 seats," read one of the many offers of votes for cash last week on MerrJep.com, one of Kosovo's most popular buy-and-sell sites.

A MerrJep representative told RFE/RL's Balkan Service that the site was trying to weed out such offers -- selling votes is illegal -- but that its small staff just couldn't keep up.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/kosovo- elections-parliament-haradinaj-kla- ldk-pdk-akk/30201010.html

Copyright (c) 2019. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.