GATHERING OF POLITICAL PARTIES AROUND THE LIBERATION ARMY OF KOSOVO?

AIM Pristina, 22 June, 1998

The declaration of the leader of Kosovo Albanians, Ibrahim Rugova, at the meeting with journalists that "the Liberation Army of Kosovo (OVK) is formed of groups of ordinary people who have taken up arms and who are trying to defend their homes" caused not little surprise. Until just a few weeks ago, Rugova had declared that he either knew nothing about the OVK or that they were certain frustrated people. For the first time he also publicly declared that it was necessary that these groups be kept under control and that they needed to assume responsibility for the situation in this space, that is, that it was the obligation of these people to obey all international agreements referring to Kosovo and resolution of this problem. The question which will attract the attention of local analysts in the next few days is whether this marks a political shift of Ibrahim Rugova or something quite different. The initial analyses of his appearance may lead to the conclusion that it was an attempt to preserve unity within the Albanian political movement which has been considerably shaken in the past few months with strengthening of the OVK, as well as his own position of the most influential person not only on the territory of Kosovo. The other question which comes up is whether Rugova is trying to make it clear that he, or his faction, can or should have control over the OVK and in this way stop the rivals who all wish to do the same: president of the Parliamentary Party of Kosovo (PPK) Adem Demaqi, leadership of the Committee for organization of the New Democratic Alliance of Kosovo (DSK) headed by member of the Academy Rexhep Qosja, and former political prisoners led by Hydajet Hyseni. Then there is the organiozation National Movement for Liberation Kosovo and also the other National Movement of Kosovo which, it is claimed, operates abroad. If until just recently his prime minister in exile Bujar Bukoshi could have been considered as an important factor but opposed to Rugova, this cannot be claimed with certainty any more. Connoisseurs claim that under pressure exerted by the Americans, he was forced to change his stand and join Rugova in his tour around America. The meeting Kosovo government in exile and its prime minister Bukoshi organized in Tirana, which was attended by representatives of parliamentary parties of the Kosovo assembly (still unconstituted), where the decision was reached to nominate persons who would be authorized to act in the name of the government in zones directly stricken, as it was stressed, by "Serb aggression" with the aim to "organize survival and self-defence", speaks in favour of this. In other words, it seems that Bukoshi with his team is trying to put the OVK under one institutional umbrella and in this way take over control of it together with Rugova.

All the mentioned political protagonists who can possibly have more or less influence on this armed formation of Kosovo Albanians which is believed to operate in several regions, that is political personages they are more loyal to than to Rugova (to Bukoshi also, it seems) differ from him in only one thing: they are in favour of a more radical solution of the question of Kosovo. It seems that Rugova still believes in a peaceful disentanglement of the Kosovo crisis and he is obviously relying to a maximum on diplomacy of western countries, especially of the USA. His stand that the armed groups of the OVK are obliged to obey all international agreements speak in favour of this thesis. If assumptions are true that a specific diplomatic pressure is exerted on Rugova and his advisory and negotiating team for the dialogue with Belgrade authorities for the sake of revival of the initiated talks, in other words that the international community is persisting in peaceful solution of the problem of Kosovo as the only one which could bring a lasting solution, it is quite clear that Rugova, just like Milosevic, has not much time left.

The effort to take over political control over the OVK with the help of his prime minister Bukoshi (until recently very close to Demaqi), who controls money, is believed to be an attempt to make the option of a peaceful solution of the Kosovo powder keg more possible or primarily an attempt to put under control the radical option which is unfortunately spreading along with radicalization of the situation in the field.

Until recently not a single political party or significant personage in the political life of Kosovo showed readiness to become the so-called political body of the OVK, but there have been tendencies towards other forms of organization which would be adapted to conditions of undeclared war which prevail in Kosovo in the past four months or some other alternative form which could be considered as an attempt of rapprochement of political subjects and individuals with the OVK.

In the beginning of March, Adem Demaqi demanded a ceasefire from armed Kosovo Albanians who call themselves the OVK, in order to be able to resolve the question of Kosovo at a negotiating table. Demaqi at the time got no answer from the members of this armed formation of Kosovo Albanians (at least not publicly), and developments in the "field" showed that there was no readiness to obey. Almost three months later, on 16 June, Demaqi himself came up with open support to the OVK, because he stressed that he thought "that peaceful endeavours proved to be insufficient". Adem Demaqi is certain about his authority among the members of the OVK as well as that it would accept him as its political representative. However, he stipulated a few conditions, in case he actually were accepted as its representative. "Those who are fighting should realize that freedom cannot be won only by arms, just as we have seen that it cannot be won by politics alone", Demaqi declared on the occasion, stating his condition at the same time: "They (OVK) should primarily fully accept the project of 'Balkania' as the platform for final solution of the question of Kosovo". Mr. Demaqi also declared that he was against "the salute (of members of the OVK) with a clenched fist", asking them to "reach a clear decision and to create a political body as soon as possible, because it is very significant".

And while Adem Demaqi, president of the Parliamentary Party of Kosovo, expressed readiness to become the first man of the OVK if they accepted his conditions, the branch of his party in Malisevo, at the central part of Kosovo which is fuully controlled by the forces of the OVK, went a step further. In fact, it reached a decision on "interruption of political activities until liberation of the homeland" and appealed on its membership and all the other forces to put themselves into the service of the OVK, adding that they would "be engaged in political activities after liberation of Albanian territories". Leadership of this branch stated that it "recognised the OVK as the only legitimate institution". In conncection with this move, vice-president of the Parliamentary Party of Kosovo, Bairam Kosumi, declared: "A people, so divided, so dispersed and with such fragmentised forces, cannot face war such as this one and that is why political forces should unite, and in this sense I have accepted the stand of our branch in Malisevo". He in fact stated the opinion that "not only in Malisevo, but in the whole part of the territory where the armed conflicts are going on, if political parties are not capable of finding a solution to temporarily merge and gather all forces, either by creation of a "committee of national salvation" or something else, they should not become an obstacle for something like that either, but interrupt their activities and be where the people are". Kosumi underlines that his Parliamentary Party has no influence on its membership in Malisevo. "They have ceased to operate as a branch of the party, and the OVK has taken hold of the situation over there", he concludes. His president Adem Demaqi however, revealed that this branch had not paid membership dues for a few months, in other words that the split occurred after they had disagreed about certain changes in the leadership of the party and increase of membership dues to six German marks a month.

It is, nevertheless, true that the activities of many political parties have been reduced due to constant armed confrontations and that in regions which are believed to be controlled by members of the OVK, they do not operate at all. In the meantime, the OVK has nominated its spokesman Jakup Krasniqi, former political prisoner and before the split in the Democratic Alliance of Kosovo, president of the branch of this party in Glogovac. In one of his statements broadcast among other by the Albanian TV, Mr. Krasniqi said as follows: "The only ideology of the OVK is its Albanianism", adding that the "main headquarters of the OVK thinks that in this phase political pluralism is pure luxury". This statement seems to announce new "initiatives" which took place on the political scene of Kosovo".

In Gnjilane (political stronghold of former political prisoner Hydajet Hyseni and former vice-president of the DSK, nowadays one of the leaders of Qosja's New DSK), on the initiative of the branch of PPK in this town, a meeting was held of branches of other political parties, radical in comparison with the Rugova's DSK, where a declaration was adopted about their union into a united political block and where open support was offered to the OVK. Bairam Kosumi who was present stressed that "nowadays, the destiny of this region does not depend on political parties but on the relation of forces between the OVK and Serb military and police forces". He expressed convinction that the Albanian people was ready to unite and pay the highest price of freedom, and that the forces which do not enter this, what Kosumi called, process would become marginal and condemned by history. Basri Masmurati, member of the Organizing Committee of the New DSK, expresses disagreement with Milosevic's assessment that Albanian parties do not support the OVK "which he considers to be terrorist" stressing that it has sprung up from the people. Afrim Morina from UNIKOMB declared that freedom would be won by pain, blood and sweat of what he called fighters for freedom, and Naser Haziri of the Parliamentary Party of Kosovo "that union of political parties will be the guideline to union of all the Albanians, even those outside the administrative borders of Kosovo". At this gathering, it was possible to hear the opinion that the OVK was the only factor which had the mandate for proclamation of independence of Kosovo and that nobody had the right to sign anything without the approval of the people. Presidency of 17 members was elected, and Beitush Isufi, former president of Gnjilane DSK branch, was elected president.

Kosovo analysts do not eliminate the possibility that this is just the beginning and that in the environments where certain leaders of opposition political parties have any influence, they will try to limit Ibrahim Rugova in the intention to quickly and with the least possible number of victims resolve the burning problem of Kosovo, that is to deny him the legitimacy to make decisions which they are trying to put under the banner of the "people and its will". For a moment, Rugova's acquired verbal advantage seems to have met with its counteract. And judging by the "mentality" of the several-year long Albanian policy, the next one can be expected but nobody knows what side it will come from and in what form.

AIM Pristina

Rrahman PACARIZI