DEMAQI AS A SYNTHESIS OF RUGOVA AND QOSJA?

The Abortive Gathering of the Albanian Political Leadership

AIM Pristina, January 31, 1996

In the Albanian political circles in Kosovo the post-Dayton period is still causing much confusion. There is no clear and unified answer to the question whether developments will favour the final resolution of the Kosovo issue or shall one of the compromise solutions prevail, just to postpone the problem for other times and a different balance of powers. With respect to the Dayton process actually three basic stands are being gradually crystalized in Kosovo. The first one is rather optimistic as it considers that the end of war in Bosnia will bring about the general calming of the situation in the region, and thereby lead to an accelerated searching for solutions to all the remaining open problems, primarily for Kosovo, as the potentially greatest sore spot of a new Balkan crisis.

It is believed that the international community will undertake more resolute steps to preventively resolve the Kosovo knot, so as to avoid a new war breaking out. The optimists claim that Kosovo is already on the agendas of the forthcoming diplomatic actions of the great powers and that the result of these actions will be positive for the Albanians. They should be rewarded for their patience and committment to peace and political means for settling conflicts.

Such an optimistic version is advanced by the leader of the Kosovo Albanians, Ibrahim Rugova. However, it is indicative that until now he generally ignored the statements of world statesmen and diplomats which clearly stated that only autonomy within Serbia,i.e. FR Yugoslavia is envisaged for Kosovo. Yet it remains somewhat unclear whether this turning of a deaf ear on his part means his faith that some more favourable solutions he advocated for years will be found for Kosovo (temporary international military and civil protectorate over Kosovo, gradual recognition of Kosovo's independence), or that he sees the offered solution of a high degree of autonomy as an unravelling answer which will be favourable for Kosovo.

Rugova's opponents on the Albanian political scene believe more in the second possibility. Namely, they publicly say that although Rugova still uses separatistic rhetorics, he is in essence a "disguised autonomy-seeker". They accuse him that his policy of peaceful resistance, even if it had not been arranged, still suits Belgrade best in the last instance as it leads to the quiet pacification of the Albanian movement and the gradual reintegration of Kosovo into Serbia. These radical opponents of Rugova, led by the academician Rexhep Qosja, represent the other, pessimistic stream of the Albanian movement. For the time being they do not represent a serious force and formation-wise can only count on some marginal political groups. However, they now believe that Rugova's time is up and that the Albanian people will soon sober up.

Qosja and his like-minded followers see the Dayton Agreement as the end of illusions that the international community will take heed of the Albanian demands for independence or unification with Albania. They say that the world powers have again betrayed and sold the Albanians, just as they have done several times before in this century and that the indecisive, inactive and totally disunited Albanian policy, which lacked both a clear programme and objectives largely contributed to this. Not only Rugova and the Democratic Alliance of Kosovo have found themselves on the firing line, but also the "capitulating" and "traitorous" policy of official Albania, i.e. its President Sali Berisha. It is said that Berisha first recognized the sovereignty of Macedonia over parts of Albanian territory, and has now proceeded even further in his betrayal by showing his readiness to recognize Serbia's sovereignty over Kosovo.

Qosja's stream harshly accuses Rugova's policy of non-action which has led to the total immobilization of the Albanian movement, and what is more regrettable, to the apathy of the masses. They advocate the renewal of the all-Albanian national movement, the creation of a uniform national platform, as well as a more active policy and the use of not only political but also all other means of struggle which would lead to the realization of the Albanian national aims.

Still, they do not state more specifically which are these "other means" which should be applied, especially not whether they imply armed struggle too. As an illustration of the mentioned is a recent statement of a newly created union of three national parties (Unikomb, PPSH and PRSH), in which the issue of the change in strategy of the Albanian movement is linked with the repsonsibility of the great powers for supporting Rugova and the absolutely inadequate offered solutions to the Kosovo problem. It says: "The international factor, either consciously or unconsciously, allows for the possibility for things to be taken over by other patriotic forces which will resort to other means in the realization of the will of the Albanian people".

In addition to these two verbally rather confronted streams which are personified in Rugova and Qosja, lately a third one is being articulated more clearly, the realistic or optimalistic stream within the Albanian movement. Adem Demaci, whom they call the Kosovo Mendela as he has spent 28 years in prisons of the communist Yugoslavia because of his struggle for a just solution of the Albanian issue, could become its major proponent. Demaci has openly criticized Rugova and the Democratic Alliance of Kosovo on several occasions for their passive and uninventive politics which could harm the Albanian movement, but in his last addresses he has rather moderated his tone, as he thinks that under the present circumstances criticism must not be nihilistic.

On the contrary, it should serve to find ways for deriving the best possible solution for Kosovo out of the present state of affairs and balance of powers. Thus, instead of conducting useless debates on whether the Albanian movement could have achieved more had it had a unified national platform, or had the world powers pursued a just or unjust policy vis-a-vis the Albanians, Demaqi proposes mobilization for the achievement of the optimal aim under the present circumstances. He thinks that the republic of Kosovo within a partially reconstructed Yugoslav federation, which could become the core of a broader federation which he calls Balkania (in an interview recently published in the Belgrade "Telegraf"), would be that optimal solution.

This optimal solution of Demaqi's, as well as his earlier announcement that he shall engage more actively in political life (he was more or less reserved till now, discharging only his functions as the leader of the Kosovo Board for the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms) did not go unnoticed in the Albanian public. Even the more radical forces on the Albanian political scene have come to realize that this optimalistic approach is much better and efficient than Qosja's nihilistic and pessimistic attitude.

These last days, the representatives of the previously mentioned union of three Albanian national parties have thus upheld the formula of the revitalization of the Albanian movement on the platform proposed by Adem Demaqi. In essence they propose a kind of internal compromise between Qosja's maximalistic idea on unification as an original Albanian project and movement and the "soft way" towards the independence of Kosovo of Rugova, who seeks the solution primarily in the political intervention of international factors. These three parties accept Qosja's old idea on the establishment of an Albanian National Council, as some sort of a National Salvation Council, which would take over the task of formulating strategic and tactical objectives of the Albanian movement, with Rugova as president responsible for their operationalization. Therefore the union of three parties in its statement says that the National Council "would in no case endanger the institution of the president, but rather make it more functional". Then they propose Adem Demaqi for president of the National Council, which shows the compromise nature of their proposal.

It is hard to say whether such ideas will bring about any shift in the balance of powers on the Albanian political scene. Judging by everything, Rugova is still undisputable leader and is not much worried by the attempts made to create certain control and corrective instances over his authority by ad hoc agreements. Therefore he once again ignored the consultative meeting of the Kosovo party leaders and prominent movement figures which the Parliamentary Party of Kosovo succeeded in rallying on January 15. The gathering was held behind closed doors, but on the basis of information that leaked through it is supposed that some of the participants, eg. academician Qosja, made their participation conditional upon Rugova's attendance, and when it became clear that the latter has no intention of appearing, the gathering was adjourned and postponed for some later date. Subsequently the public learned the details of this unsuccessful gathering, namely of clashes in the top leadership of the Parliamentary Party of Kosovo. An open letter, a member of the Presidency Sali Redaj published in the weekly "Koha", states that the idea of this gathering was to "put president Rugova in the dock, while those present would be a kind of jury".

It is to be expected that the clearing up of positions within the Albanian movement in Kosovo will continue, but without pending dramatic turnabouts. And not because Rugova's positions are untouchable, but because his opponents are rather weak and disunited. Actually, Rugova's main opponents have no real alternative for his pragmatic policy of waiting. Demaqi is becoming the only real alternative to Rugova, but that alternative too is actually closer to his pragmatic positions since it offers him a certain retreat. Namely, that in future negotiations he can ask for less than the independence of Kosovo.

Actually, Qosja, Rugova and Demaqi demonstrate a good division of roles on the Albanian political scene. Both Qosja and Demaqi are, for the time being, only blazing the trail for Rugova who is to start and probably end the negotiationg cycle with Belgrade.

Skellzen Maliqi Aim Pristina