ELECTIONS POSTPONED - END OF PARALLEL INSTITUTIONS?!

AIM Pristina, 12 May, 1997

The leader of Kosovo Albanians, Ibrahim Rugova, has for the second time postponed elections for parallel Albanian authorities in Kosovo. He prolonged his own and the mandates of the deputies of the Kosovo parliament elected by the Albanians in May 1992 in their elections. The mandates were prolonged for six months, that is until 24 December, when the deadline for scheduling elections expires. Like on the occasion of the previous decision on prolongation of the presidential mandate at this time last year, Rugova has again explained this decision byreferring to provisions of the Kacanik constitution on emergency conditions. Among the Albanian public, however, the formulation which served as the basis for prolongation of the five-year presidential mandate is quite vague. Politicians and lawyers do not gladly speak about it, but mostly refer to a decision from 1991 of the previous Kosovo parliament, according to which the entire power due to special circumstances, was already transferred to the president. This is now interpreted as a pretext for what seems to be an endless prolongation of the mandate of the president until these conditions cease to exist, according to which the president also has the unlimited right to prolong the mandate to the deputies.

From the legal standpoint there is plenty of obscurity, but the politicians would not be politicians if they would not be able to interpret and use the law as suits them best in a specific situation. Due to the situation such as it is, political and legal institutions created by the Albanians as the parallel administration, have almost no political and legal manouevring space, and mostly that is the cause of vagueness, at least that is what it looks like superficially. The Albanian lawyers deny formal foundation of these decisions, but a lot of things are done by inertia. After all, this is not a question of legal issues as much as it is the question of political problems imposed by the situation in Kosovo.

Despite all differences, nobody denies that the president's and the deputies' mandates would be much more powerful if it were supported by direct declaration of will of the citizens. But, those who are more flexible say that due to the known undivided commitment of the Albanians for independence of Kosovo, legitimacy of Albanian deputies, even with the prolonged mandate is not derogated, at least not in the part which refers to their attitude to others.

Those who are in favour of resolvng problems in this way, see a significant excuse for it in the risk of straining Serb-Albanian relations, if Serbia decides to prevent Albanian elections by force. Vice-President of the Democratic Alliance of Kosovo, Fehmi Agani, assesses that due to different internal and international circumstances, Belgrade would not allow the Albanian elections to pass undisturbed, like in May 1992.

The Albanian politicians unwillingly speak about the influence from abroad. But, both they and the Albanian public know perfectly well that advices from abroad, primarily from America, have been decisive for postponing the elections. The Albanian deputies had been previously warned, but just to be on the safe side, on the day when they were expected to reach the decision about the elections, the head of the American mission Richard Miles came to Pristina to talk with Rugova. He also met President of the Parliamentary Party of Kosovo, Adem Demaqi, and in the end, said bluntly for the Albanian opublic that the American administration, due to the possibility of a dangerous straining of relations, does not support the Albanian elections in Kosovo. how it was assessed) that the Albanian deputies should decide about it on their own. However, after the nightmare in Albania, the Albanian representatives will be much more cautious in interpretation of such formulations about their freedom of action and manoeuvring. In any case, advices from America, despite unconcealed discontent, will be sufficient for Rugova's decision to be accepted in the Albanian public as the only possible solution in the existing situation.

However, this decision will not remain without negative consequences for the inter-Albanian political life and relations among Albanian parties and organizations. Rugova has not achieved political concensus with the most significant Albanian political parties. First of all, he has not eliminated the opposition of the Parliamentary Party of Kosovo headed by Adem Demaqi. In the Albanian political spectre it is, conditionally speaking, the only serious opposition political force. Vice-President of the Parliamentary Party, Bajram Kosumi, declared after political consultations with Rugova, that pursuant the Constitution and the law, after 24 May, Kosovo will have no state institutions: neither the parliament, nor the government, not its president. Kosumi did not wish to declare his opinion whether this meant that his party would not respect these institutions now when their mandates have been prolonged.

The problem of the elections, via the media, has become a significant topic in the broadest Albanian public. This was conditioned, among other, by an increase of election information, primarily about unfavourable stands of the international community, that is America, to the proclaimed ultimate Albanian goals. After awareness about this has grown, the primary support for accomplishment of the Albanian objectives is sought in mobilization of all inter-Albanian potentials, which is directly or indirectly eating away at the until recently unquestioned authority of Ibrahim Rugova.

This seems to have caused his concern, because after several years of "playing solo" in politics and diplomacy, he felt the urge to draw other personages and parties to his side. But it was obvious that this was just decor intended to create the impression in the public about mathematical majority. This could have seemed useful to Rugova for a moment. But it is already possible to see how harmful it is to accept the logic of the majority in decision-making. In the Coordinating Committee of the Albanian political parties where the principle of decision-making is general agreement, Rugova has practically become a party in a law suit, or rather a representative of one out of a few Albanian parties and probably that is how he will in the future be treated by his rivals. That is how the Albanian deputies, from a single current problem which demanded urgent resolution, opened the doors to creation of much more complicated problems within their ranks in conditions when the most significant demand was cooperation, coordination and elaboration of a joint strategy for facing Belgrade.

On the occasion of the postponement of the Albanian elections for the end of the year which Rugova publicly interpreted by necessity of better preparations for them, the question whether the Albanians will vote in the Serbian elections which should also take place by the end of the year, has become very interesting. It is believed, mostly in the Serbian circles, that coincidence of these elections is not pure chance, but they also rely on possible strong pressures from abroad which will make the Albanians change their current behavior. There are also speculations about creation of certain circumstances which might offer the Albanians the possibility to take it seriously into consideration.

However, at this moment, these contemplations belong in the sphere of unfounded spaculations. From the current Albanian perspective, this seems impossible. At his latest press conference, Rugova said that the Albanians would have their elections and that the postponement has nothing to do with the elections in Serbia. Besides, despite all the speculations in this sense, one must bear in mind the fact that the question of participation of the Albanians in any Serbian or Yugoslav elections is not a matter of decision of their political leadership, but rather of high and wide walls built in Serbian-Albanian relations in the past several years. The Albanian deputies have also for quite some time now developed a reasonable stand that the Albanians should not take sides in an inter-Serbian competition, because they would not only strain the internal Serbian relations by doing it, but also Serbian-Albanian relations in general.

AIM Pristina Feim REXHEPI