Potemkin Charade Or Political Pragmatism?
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Decentralisation in Kosovo: Potemkin Charade or Political Pragmatism? “Words are powerful only when reinforced by a favourable situational context” Master Thesis MSc Human Geography Conflicts, Territories and Identities Inge Baanders, s0822531 [email protected] supervisor: Bert Bomert second reader: Chris Hall 2 Contents Executive Summary ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 5 Overview of Acronyms ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 9 Chapter 1: Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………………………... 11 I; Introduction to this thesis …………………………………………………………………………………………..11 II; Societal and Scientific Relevance ……………………………………………………………………………….14 III; Methodology and Thesis …………………………………………………………………………………………..16 IV; Literature References ……………………………………………………………………………………………….18 Chapter 2: Decentralisation at the Conceptual Level .……………………………………………………………..19 I; A Conceptual Analysis ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 20 II; Merits and Pitfalls …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 24 III; Successful Decentralisation ……………………………………………………………………………………… 27 V; Concluding Remarks …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 32 V; Literature References ………………………………………………………………………………………………..34 Chapter 3: Kosovo – A Panoramic Overview ……………………………………………………………………………36 I; Historical Account ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 36 II; Contemporary Kosovo …………………………………………………………………………………………….… 40 III; Literature References ………………………………………………………………………………………………..48 Chapter 4: Decentralisation in Kosovo ……………………………………………………………………………………50 I; Towards a Concept of Decentralisation ……………………………………………………………………… 50 II; Theoretical Decentralisation in Kosovo …………………………………………………………………….. 51 III; Fiscal Architecture …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 55 IV; Oversight and Accountability …………………………………………………………………………………… 60 V; Concluding Remarks………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 62 VI; Literature References ……………………………………………………………………………………………….63 Chapter 5: Decentralisation on a Practical Level ……………………………………………………………………..65 I; Graçanicë/Gračanica municipality ……………………………………………………………………………… 66 3 II; Kllokot-vërboc/Klokot-vrboc municipality ………………………………………………………………….77 III; Shtërpcë/Štrpce municipality ……………………………………………………………………………………85 IV; Literature References ……………………………………………………………………………………………….97 Chapter 6: Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 100 I; Decentralisation and Kosovo’s socio-economic and political environment ………………….100 II; Decentralisation, the international community and the government of Kosovo …………102 III; Decentralisation, transparency and accountability …………………………………………………….103 IV; Decentralisation, citizen participation and legitimacy ……………………………………………….103 V; Decentralisation and public service delivery ……………………………………………………………….104 VI; Decentralisation, political stability and inclusion ……………………………………………………….105 VII; Policy Recommendations ………………………………………………………………………………………….106 VIII; Concluding Remarks ………………………………………………………………………………………………..109 Chapter 7: Literature Overview …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 111 Annex I : Kosovo National Assembly Representation ………………………………………………………………117 Annex II: Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, Chapter X …………………………………………………..118 Annex III: Data for Allocating Grants ………………………………………………………………………………………120 Annex IV: Satisfaction Municipal Services …………………………………………………………………………….. 121 Annex V: Map of Kosovo ………………………………………………………………………………………………………..122 4 Executive Summary As an autonomous province of Serbia, under the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Kosovo enjoyed a substantial level of administrative and legislative authority. After Milosevic’s rise to power in 1987, Kosovo’s autonomy was in effect revoked and Belgrade attempted to strengthen its central-level power. Promoting the message that Serbia could not lose to afford the cradle of its culture, Serbs were stimulated to settle in Kosovo. Efforts to change Kosovo’s demography were accompanied by repression of the Kosovo Albanian population; thousands of Albanians in Kosovo lost their jobs in this period; medical staff was fired, the university was closed and Kosovo’s assembly was dissembled, moves that pushed Albanian public life underground. The Kosovo Albanian population formed a parallel infrastructure under leadership of an elected assembly, providing social services as education. With the disintegration of the Yugoslav federation starting in 1991, Serbia’s repressive grip on Kosovo gained an increasingly violent character and was met by resistance from the Kosovo Albanian side, first peaceful but turning violent in the second half of the 1990s (led by the Kosovo Liberation Army). Several internationally facilitated attempts to reconcile the opposing sides in an agreement failed and as the situation got increasingly grim, faith in a peace agreement evaporated. In 1999, a NATO intervention forced Milosevic to withdraw its troops from Kosovo’s territory. Subsequently, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1244 (1999), placing Kosovo under international administration of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo, UNMIK. Although Provisional Institutions of Self-Governance were put in place, UNMIK remained overall authority. Recognising the need for a durable solution, a strategy was drafted which was to be acceptable to all parties involved. In 2002, then-SRSG Steiner introduced the concept of decentralisation to Kosovo. Decentralisation, the transfer of responsibilities of planning, management, resource raising and allocations from the central government and its agencies to lower levels of government, was not a new concept. The concept is argued to promote an increase in effectiveness and efficiency of public service delivery, while freeing up central ministries for policy-related tasks. In the second half of the nineteenth century, subsidiarity, as a core principle of decentralisation, was adopted by the majority of western states, advocating allocation of competences to the lowest possible level of government. Subsidiarity has been linked to good governance; placing decision-making authority closers to citizens advocates greater access to public officials and services, resulting in more responsive policies, better allocation of scarce resources, enhanced transparency and accountability which are all aspects stipulated to promote good governance. The value of decentralisation was enshrined in the 1985 European Charter of Local Self-Governance. 5 In the 1990s, the focus on inevitable state hegemony decreased and good governance came to the forefront of the political arena. Where states failed to protect and provide for its citizens, international intervention became acceptable. The character of interventions shifted to include a component of institutional development. In particular in countries strained by conflict, this component focused on integrating a form of decentralisation. Apart from the afore-mentioned advantages of improved delivery of public services, decentralisation is argued to lead to a decrease of tensions by enhancing socio-political inclusion and political stability, hence serving as a conflict resolution tool. Failed renewed negotiations led to a unilateral declaration of independence of the Kosovo Albanian leadership in February 2008. High levels of international involvement ensured the inclusion of extensive minority protection measures in the Constitution, among others in the forms of fixed representation in decision-making institutions and a decentralisation framework providing competences to Serbian-majority areas with limited central-level involvement. The number of Serbian- majority municipalities was to be increased and they would be empowered with a range of own, delegated and extended competences. Furthermore, municipalities are to be allowed direct links with Belgrade through which it could provide (financial) support channelled through Kosovo institutions. Providing Kosovo Serbs with their own representatives, thus decreasing dependency upon Albanian- majority central institutions, and allowing room for links with Belgrade was to provide a sense of security for the Kosovo Serbs. Thus, decentralisation was to promote a framework of power-sharing and political inclusion, thereby defusing tensions which might otherwise lead to renewed violence and segregation. Factors that influence the implications of decentralisation are broadly defined in two categories; the first relates to background conditions of the country that is to implement the process. In this regard, Kosovo’s socio-economical and political environments do not pose a favourable context. Its small population of approximately 2.2 million inhabitants copes with high levels of unemployment and an underdeveloped education system. These characteristics correspond with less inclination of people to participate in the political system, a vacuum of qualified staff and little trust in the government, as illustrated by the case studies below. The small size of municipalities negatively influences cost-effectiveness of decentralised services and hence municipalities continue to remain dependent upon other municipalities or the central level government. Kosovo’s weak tradition of democratic local governance leads to little political diversity, little interest of citizens in the political system, and oversight and accountability mechanisms that are weakly developed. Decentralisation has been largely the result of external pressure rather than out of a genuine belief in the advantages of 6