Elections and Arbiters

AIM Pristina, January 28, 2001

In a flood of problems, Kosovo political parties and politicians have elections at the level of Kosovo as their chief preoccupation. The international community and the new Kosovo administrator, Hans Haekkerup, attach equal importance to the forthcoming elections. But what both the former and the latter also have in common is a different view of the order of priorities in the election process as a whole.

In his initial statements immediately after taking office, Haekkerup somewhat disappointed the Kossovars by saying that the vote could not be discussed in detail nor be scheduled without first determining the issue to be voted on and the competences of the people's representatives. Finally, almost all major political forces in Kosovo accepted this as the only logical sequence of events, though not with equal enthusiasm. Thus the drawing up of a legal framework, or a temporary constitution, in accordance with the current unspecified status of Kosovo and U.N. Resolution 1244, emerged as the most important task. According to numerous ideas presented to the public, mostly by foreign experts, the temporary constitutional act should at least determine the electoral system, the bodies that are to be elected, their jurisdiction, an independent judiciary and very specific measures to ensure the protection of minorities.

It is, however, always easier to talk than to act. In the domain of politics, things tend to be even more complicated, because the sides involved can pose conditions, or even work to undermine a process. UNMIK head Hans Haekkerup has made it quite clear he is expecting opposition to certain aspects of the constitutional act. He sees such differences as natural, and has announced that his task will be to arbitrate in such cases and, if the need arises, make a final decision himself. Sources in UNMIK claim that even the temporary constitution will be passed as a decree signed by the Kosovo administrator.

It is not yet clear how the temporary constitution will be drawn up. Before departing, former Kosovo administrator Bernard Kouchner formed a group of domestic and international experts to work on this document. The group, however, met only once. Upon arriving in Kosovo, Haekkerup suspended its operation without explanation. Now it is supposed to resume its task, but it is not clear in what manner this will be done or whether domestic experts will still be part of it. It is believed that Haekkerup wanted to consult Danish experts on the matter. His move, however, was interpreted in Kosovo as if he had already formed another group excluding local representatives, which UNMIK denied. Albanian sources believe that the process of preparing the document will continue soon and that Kosovo experts will be invited to participate. It is said that the group will be formed again and proceed with its task as soon as Haekkerup expands the Interim Administrative Council of Kosovo (which is a sort of government composed of the most influential politicians and an advisory body to the administrator of some authority), and the Transitional Council (which is a kind of mini-parliament to which prominent representatives of political and public life were appointed), which was announced even before the term of former UNMIK head Kouchner ended. These changes should reflect new political relations established after last October's municipal elections.

If developments continue in this direction, then Haekkerup and the work group preparing the temporary constitution will have not only written projects to consider, but also other demands that are part of the political platforms of various factors both in Kosovo and outside it. As far as it is known now, a project jointly prepared by a group of Swiss experts, the Contact Group and the Democratic Party of Kosovo will be presented to them soon. Since it is highly unlikely that the paper will become a joint project of all Albanian political forces, as the Democratic Party of Kosovo hopes for, it will probably be presented as a proposal of a group of Kosovo political parties.

The projects differ, but they all take into account the temporary conditions established by U.N. Resolution 1244 and its resolve not to predetermine the final status of Kosovo in any way. The introductory part of the Contact Group proposal contains a formulation specifying Kosovo as part of Yugoslavia, but there is not a single provision enabling Yugoslavia or Serbia to make any decisions during the transitional period. As opposed to the Swiss experts' proposal which is more detailed, the Contact Group's project has areas that, because of Russia's opposition, are not defined at all. It is interesting to note that this project provides for the possibility of Kosovo having a president even during the transitional period.

The differences between the Great Powers are already obvious. Several days ago one of the Russian representatives said that no elections should be held in Kosovo until all Serbs return there and their safety and freedom of movement is ensured. As far as the constitutional document on transitional status is concerned, he said that nothing should be done in Kosovo without Belgrade's consent. It is interesting to note that the Serbs, official Belgrade and Russia have identical stands in regard to short- and long-term steps that should be taken in Kosovo. No such agreement consists between the Albanians and the Western powers. The basic goal of the policy pursued by Belgrade and the Kosovo Serbs is to prevent the formal separation of Kosovo from Serbia in the near or more distant future. This is the basic feature of all Serb views in relation to elections and the temporary constitution.

Official Belgrade has already demanded that it not only be included in all matters pertaining to Kosovo, but that it have the main say in them as well. Much like the Kosovo Serbs, official Belgrade also demanded that before elections are held all Serbs who fled Kosovo after KFOR was deployed there should return, and that they be given full safety and freedom of movement. These are demands that cannot be met anytime soon, during this year, for example. If these positions are insisted on, it can easily be concluded that the Serbs will boycott Kosovo elections as they did with last year's municipal elections.

This is a rather simplified view of the current situation. It should be assumed, however, that in the decision-making process regarding Kosovo elections not only the interests of the Kosovo Serbs would be taken into account, but the urgent economic needs and ambitions of Belgrade in the Balkans as well. Belgrade is expected to try to achieve a balance of interests. This could mean that the Kosovo Serbs might find it better to vote in elections, than to boycott them. Be it as it may, unless told to vote by Belgrade, the Kosovo Serbs could decide not to vote. Similar developments might be expected when Russia is in question. After strong initial opposition, Russia could also find compromises more attractive than confrontation. Because of this, Western diplomats and international officials in Kosovo believe that the Serbs, this time around, will vote in the Kosovo polls. Still, Western diplomats said that now everything depends on Hans Haekkerup, who in the future will not be obliged to ask for permission from New York, Brussels, or Vienna (where the OSCE headquarters is) either for the temporary constitution or the scheduling of elections.

International sources in Kosovo unofficially stated that general elections will certainly be held during the summer, or at the beginning of autumn. Albanian representatives are asking that the vote be scheduled as soon as possible. It seems that there are no differences between them over this issue. Given the highly disturbed relations between the ethnic Albanians, however, differences due to animosity, rivalry and conflicting ambitions, embodied in disputes over what the election process priorities should be, should not be ruled out. Especially having in view that they have burdened the local political scene for years.

When speaking of parliamentary elections, the Democratic Alliance of Kosovo has in mind presidential elections as well. Party representatives do not believe that the drawing up of the temporary constitution is a priority. The Democratic Party of Kosovo, however, is of a different opinion. For them, the temporary constitution is a priority; elections should come next. In one of his latest statements, the party president, Hashim Thaci, said that it would be good for Kosovo to have all state institutions, including a president, during the transitional period. Meaning that Kosovo might well do without a president. This position is identical to that of Ibrahim Rugova, president of the Democratic Alliance. Namely, he said that the best solution for Kosovo and the region is Kosovo's independence. A president is a symbol of a state, and Kosovo is not a state. In short, it appears that some Kosovo politicians view the election of president, that is, the election of a concrete person as president, or not electing him, as an issue of the utmost importance.

In an environment where leaders are more important than their parties, where people view parties through their leaders, and where leaders hate each other so much that they cannot even sit at the same table, priorities are tailored according to such habits. Thus hills are turned into mountains, and all sense of reality is lost, including the specific nature of the questions that are actually at stake. Therefore, given the condition of intra-Albanian relations, it is good that Hans Haekkerup will have the final say.

Fehim Rexhei

(AIM Pristina)