waz.observer
AUGUSTIN PALOKAJ
03.11.2010 @ 11:32 CET
Kosovar Prime Minister Hashim Thaci's Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) expressed satisfaction in having been ousted by parliament following a no-confidence vote on Tuesday (2 November).
Mr Thaci's ministers voted in favour of a no-confidence motion against themselves while the opposition voted against the motion, hoping the government would stay until election time. The country will now hold early elections on 12 December.
The paradoxical situation could have been avoided if the government had simply resigned and called new polls, but resignations are considered to be sign of weakness in the Balkans.
The no-confidence motion had been started by the opposition New Kosovo Alliance. The successfully 'lost' vote was used as an instrument to prompt early elections which, according to the country's constitution, have to be held within 45 days.
The scheme worked out better than expected. The speaker of the Kosovar assembly, Jakup Krasniqi, dissolved parliament immediately and set 12 December as the date for snap elections.
Speaking during the debate, Mr Thaci said that Kosovo was in an institutional crisis and accused his former coalition partner, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) of bringing about the current predicament by leaving the coalition a few weeks ago.
Mr Thaci went on to applaud what he considers his cabinet's great achievements. Commenting on the absurd situation Ardijan Gjini, from
the opposition AAK party, said: "It looks like the prime minister is saying: 'Vote to oust me because I and my government are so good!'."
The opposition called the motion a political game and even accused Mr Thaci of wanting to organise elections "in the dark" while the leader of the opposition Ramush Haradinaj is in the war crimes tribunal in The Hague awaiting a partial retrial of his case.
The mid-December elections will have an impact on dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, which is to be held under the auspices of the European Union. Kosovo will not engage in any talks before elections but Brussels wants the talks to start "within weeks."
There are plans of a compromise solution that would imply kicking off the negotiations with the issue of missing persons. Kosovo will, in that case, send a team of experts who have been dealing with the subject in the past, but critics in Kosovo warn that this sensitive human issue cannot be treated as a 'technical' matter.
Western diplomats also have doubts about the new state's ability to organise proper, free and democratic elections in such a short period. Even if Kosovo manages, they point out, the international community, including the European Union, will be hard pressed to prepare proper monitoring for the polls.
waz.observer
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου