Opinion: Microfinance Law - This is a Bank Robbery April 27 - May 10, 2012 Issue No. 87 www.prishtinainsight.com Price € 1 From Pasture NEWS Pacolli to “Power Misled over Neighbourhood” Ministerial In four years, agricultural Credit Card land on the edge of Use Prishtina, once owned by an elderly Serb farmer, has > page 4 been transformed into one of the wealthiest neigh- NEWS bourhoods in the country, Black Market in soon to be home to Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, for- Heart of mer Interior Minister Zenun Government Pajaziti, alongside a host of > page 5 other top businessmen, NEWS politicians and public figures. Kosovo Albanians See Page 18-19 Pack up in Troubled North Kosovo’s Travel-Happy MPs > page 6 FEATURE Vetevendosje Keep Fail to Tackle Election Fraud Faith in Graffiti Despite numerous foreign ‘study’ trips, mostly funded by the taxpayer, a parliamentary committee tasked with electoral > page 14-15 reform has failed to come up with any changes. COMMUNITY FOCUS electoral fraud that was noticed continue to misuse [the election over the past 12 months. Media Threaten By Genc Nimoni , Artan Mustafa in the December 2010 parliamen- process] to survive in the politi- So far 18 committee meetings Boycotts Over Law tary elections. cal scene”. have taken place for which each embers of the Kosovo par- The travel-loving committee member was paid about 1,440 euro- liament have received has now asked for three more Foreign travel galore: for participating, while its chair- Mthousands of euro in com- months to come to some recom- man, Haki Demolli, received 3,600 pensation for committee meetings, mendations. euro – a total bill of 15,000 euro. workshops and foreign visits as The European Union and civil part of their election reform plans The committee was supposed society organizations have told Per diems for travel bring the cost – having failed to deliver any pro- to complete its task on Sunday, Prishtina Insight of their concern to 20,000 euro for the year, which > page 22 posals to tackle electoral fraud April 29, but parliament is about the “lack of substantial excludes all expenses for flights during their 12-month mandate. expected to give them a green progress” and the unwillingness of and hotels. A senior EU diplomat in light to continue for another 90 the political parties to engage in In addition, six committee mem- Kosovo told Prishtina Insight days. the reform and correct the election bers participated in three spells of that they had “serious con- Albulena Haxhiu, herself a errors. four-day workshops organised in cerns” about the electoral member of the same committee Meanwhile, official parliamentary the Albanian seaside city of Kosovo’s only English-language reform committee’s work, for the nationalist Vetevendosje documents, obtained by this newspa- Durres, in July, October and newspaper is available: adding that the country’s main party, described the work of the per, show that members of the com- December 2011. parties had shown no willing- committee as “unprofessional mittee have committed themselves Delivered to ness to tackle the widespread and unserious”, adding: “They to a great deal of travel and meetings continues page 2 Your Door Light Shone on Murky World of Thaci’s Brother Builds Multi- From Newsstands Energy Trade million Residential Complex across Kosovo KEK signed a 30-million-euro contract in Blerim Thaci, Hashim’s youngest broth- Sent To February for the supply of emergency er, is part owner of Iliria Building, a com- Your Inbox energy with the powerful Serbian compa- pany constructing a major residential com- nies, Energy Financing Team, EFT, and plex on the edge of Prishtina. Rudnap Group – both of which are now at Along with his business partner Milaim From the centre of a media and political storm. Cakiqi, he is expected to make between our partners A report by Prishtina daily “Zeri” last three and four million euro from the devel- economy week accused Albania’s... page 7 news opment, according to... page 3 see page 16 for more info is supported by: 2 April 27 - May 10, 2012 news Xhaferri: Kosovo’s Travel- Someone Wants Happy MPs Fail to to Destabilize Tackle Election the Region in Brief News Fraud acedonia’s Deputy Prime Minister from page 1 Musa Xhaferri says that extreme According to a Kosovo Government Mgroups want to destabilize Macedonia and Kosovo, and that both govern- regulation, public officials can claim ments are working to prevent such a sce- 41.80 per day in compensation for the nario. trips to Albania. Xhaferri was in Prishtina on Thursday to The committee also organised a three- meet with Kosovo’s Prime Minister Hashim day workshop in the mountain village of Thaci, and the Foreign Minister Enver Prevalle, close to Prizren, between Hoxhaj. March 2 and 5. During his visit, Xhaferri said that the Two members of the committee also Albanians in Macedonia want to prevent the visited Finland and Austria for five and destabilization of the country and the region, six days respectively. The per diem rate Members of a parliamentary committee charged with reforming the election system have visited following the latest inter-ethnic incidents. for Finland is 31.20 euro and 39.60 euro Durres, Albania, four times in a year, but achieved nothing. “The Macedonian government is taking all for Austria. the necessary steps to make sure that the Three members of the committee went shown willingness to engage in the Kryeziu said. incidents that have occurred in our country to Slovenia in March for four days to fol- reform of the system and “above all to do not have a knock on effect for our societies low the election preparations and the correct it”. One Tick Elections in general,” Musa Xhaferri said. electoral system. The scale of the 2010 electoral fraud, “We will not allow extremist groups to Parliament has not disclosed the and thus the need to carry out reforms, In the last election, people could vote destabilize our societies,” he added, without flight, food and accommodation fees, has been demonstrated by the number of for the party and, if they chose, for up to elaborating further on which groups he which would significantly increase the criminal cases against election officials. five party candidates as part of an “open meant. overall cost of the committee’s work. Prosecutors received 191 complaints in list” system. 2011 in relation to the last parliamentary Observers have criticized the system “Serious Concerns” elections, which resulted in 1,343 persons as it allowed parties to allocate votes to AI: EULEX Must being indicted. A state prosecution specific party members during the The committee was set up in April 2011 report for 2011 stated that 931 more peo- counting process. ple can expect to be indicted. Thirty as part of an agreement between the European diplomats want a simpler Focus on War leaders of Democratic Party of Kosovo, cases have already gone through the system. “The ideal would be a one-tick PDK, the Democratic League of Kosovo, courts, with more than 200 people sen- election,” the same senior European offi- Crimes LDK, and the Alliance for the New tenced. cial told Prishtina Insight. Kosovo, AKR, to nominate Atifete Other problems related to the voter new Amnesty International, AI, “Be it for the party or for a party can- Jahjaga as a President and avoid a loom- lists. According to a 2011 report by civil report demands that the EU Rule of didate. That [system] would be simpler ing political crisis over the presidency. society group Democracy For ALaw Mission in Kosovo, EULEX, for people to understand and easier for Parliamentary elections are due in Development, up to 335,000 of the makes the prosecution of war crimes its pri- 1,632,276 voters on the electoral roll in observers to ensure they can follow what ority. autumn of 2013, but international diplo- the 2010 elections should have been happens. The report, Kosovo: Time for EULEX to pri- mats and civil society observers say that removed. The population census, organ- “We need a law on political parties oritise war crimes, charts progress made by they have “serious concerns” about the ized by Kosovo Statistic Office, revealed ensuring internal more transparent pro- the Mission and recommends urgent reforms reform process following the failure of only 1,733,872 inhabitants in Kosovo. cedures.” ahead of the extension of its mandate in the committee to produce new legisla- Non-governmental organizations say He dismissed the argument that what June. tion. the political parties have numerous ways Kosovo most needs is more technology to “EULEX must make investigation and The European Union Office in Kosovo to manipulate the voting. avoid fraud. prosecution of the large backlog of crimes said last week that the member states Ismet Kryeziu, executive director at Two years ago, he noted, the constitu- under international law its top priority,” said were concerned with the “lack of a sub- Kosovo Democratic Institute, KDI, which tional court in Germany decided against Nicolas Beger, Director of Amnesty stantial progress”. A statement noted led monitoring missions in the past elec- the use of cameras at polling stations, International’s European Institutions Office. that an expert report in 2010, and the EU tion and is now in the reform debate, and there have been technical debates of “We’re asking it to establish, with help progress report in 2011, had called for a said the last 12 months have been charac- this nature in The Netherlands, US and from EU countries, an effective international simpler and more transparent election terized by “irresponsibility and a lack of Ireland.