Prishtina Insight #124
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December 6-19, 2013 l #124 l Price 1€ Sleight of hand: Getting the boot: Prishtina Belgrade pushes south Failures in capital cost Insight in elections. PAGE 2 LDK mayor’s office. PAGE 4 CAN HE FIX PRISHTINA? Mayor-elect Shpend Ahmeti discusses his vision and what stands in his way. PAGE 8 PHOTO/MAJLINDA HOXHA PRN loses No. 1 l PI Guide: At home at MIQT Taverna. PAGE 12 carrier as Belle Air l Opinion: Voters stage goes under. PAGE 10 a revolution. PAGE 14 PageTwo2 n December 6-19, 2013 n Prishtina Insight LEPOSAVIC SERBIA ZvecaN ZUBIN poTOK NORTH MITRovica NOVO BRDO GRacaNica KloKOT paRTes RANilUG from the editor Win-Win for Belgrade If a Nobel prize were given for Machi- they please, it would be naive to view avellianism, the Serbian government these GIS victories as merely a reflec- would be a strong contender this year. tion of voters’ preferences. Belgrade ran The Serbian Citizens Initiative, GIS, a a hard, in some cases dirty, campaign Kosovo-wide list of Belgrade-approved for these southern municipalities, candidates, appears to have won victo- which are likely home to more Serbs ries nearly everywhere it fielded can- than the north. STrpCE didates for mayor. It even managed to The initial impact will be a sudden, get someone elected to the Prishtina dramatic weakening of the Independ- municipal assembly. ent Liberal Party, SLS, which is part of In the course of one election, Serbia Prime Minister Hashim Thaci’s national managed to let go of the Autonomous collation. Province of Kosovo and Metohija and The SLS has played an essential role Serbia’s expedite its ticket to the EU while gain- in integrating Serbs south of the Ibar, ing a foothold but has also been responsible for the across the Repub- rise of Nenad Cvetkovic, the soon-to- lic of Kosovo. Bel- be-former Mayor of Partes, who has a grade essentially rape conviction. It had its share of other push south traded in an old scandals, too. Zastava for a fleet Nate. The breaking of the SLS monopoly The Belgrade-backed political party, the of new Volkswa- Tabak over the south is in many ways refresh- Serbian Citizens’ Initiative, has claimed vic- gen Golfs. @birn.eu.com ing, evidence of the recalibration of lo- tories in all but one majority-Serb municipal- Belgrade’s vic- Editor-in-Chief cal politics seen across Kosovo in the ity in the recent local elections. The Inde- tories in the north, recent elections. But the motives of the pendent Serbian Party, SLS, had dominated in places like new crop of leaders are suspect. Many Serb politics in Kosovo’s centre and south, North Mitrovica and Leposavic, were come from the Serbian-run “parallel in- and was instrumental in integrating these not all that impressive given that Serbia stitutions”, and there is reason to think communities into the Republic of Kosovo. has basically run the region for 13 years. that they will take orders coming from It claimed its real prizes south of the Ibar Belgrade. river, where GIS mayors will soon be If this trend is reflected in the na- running Novobrdo, Gracanica, Ranilug, tional elections in 2014, Belgrade may Partes and Klokot. Only in Strpce, where soon have its people in the Kosovo par- the Brezovica ski resort is located, did liament, and thus a possible say in who Prishtina Balkan Investigative Reporting Network • Mensa e Studenteve, the GIS fail to pull off a victory. becomes the next Prime Minister. That Insight first floor, 10000, Prishtina, Kosovo PHO• NE: +381 (0) 38 24 33 58 These southern municipalities would be a stroke of cunning genius, as • EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Nate Tabak • STAFF: Jeta Xharra, Marcus Tanner, have been integrated into the Republic Serbia will have managed to relieve it- Petrit Collaku, Parim Olluri, Flutura Kusari and Arijeta Lajka. • DESIGN: Trembelat • of Kosovo for some time. While Serbs self of the burden of Kosovo, while dou- Prishtina Insight is supported by the Kosovo Foundation for Open Society, Norwegian have every right to vote for whomever bling its actual power in the country. Embassy, Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network. December 6-19, 2013 n Prishtina Insight n 3 E: [email protected] / T: +381 (0)38 60 40 70 / W: www.rikon-ks.com MP 4000 MP 2510 / 3010 Print/Copy/Scan/Fax Print/Copy/Scan/Fax 40 ppm 25 / 35 ppm A4 / A3 A4 / A3 ARDF ARDF Duplex Duplex Finisher Finisher Network Network 40000 kopje garancion 20000 kopje garancion 900.00€ 450.00€ Në çmime janë të përfshira të gjitha taksat 4 n December 6-19, 2013 n Prishtina Insight Nation ELECTIOns CORRUPTION 2012 105 2013 111 Prishtina Kosovo’s rank on Transparency 106 MEXICO NIGER International’s 2013 Corruption Per- ceptions Index - shared with Ethi- 111 ETHIOPIA KOSOVO opia and Tanzania. Kosovo scored TANZANIA 33 on the index, suggesting that tires of its 114 EGYPT corruption has gotten slightly worse INDONESIA than in 2012, when it scored 34 and was ranked 105. (Higher numbers on the index are better). In the region, only Albania is ranked lower, at 116 and an index score of 31. old master Failure to deliver meaningful improvements On Your Side to Kosovo’s capital cost the LDK the mayor’s office, and opened the door to Fountain preservation Vetevendosje. remains unfinished Whether it’s a pothole that has not been filled in years By Edona Peci Traffic jams, public sanitation prob- or a street light that never lems, water shortages and illegal con- seems to turn on, we want Founded by the late Ibrahim Rugova, struction are part of daily life. to know about it. Send your champion of peaceful resistance to While Mustafa, and his predeces- tips to nate.tabak@birn. Serbian rule, the Democratic League sors, have made some headway, he eu.com, and we’ll get on the of Kosovo, LDK, has long thrived in the has not been transformative in the way case. Kosovo capital as the urbane alternative that Edi Rama was in Tirana, Albania. When Prishtina’s to the major parties run by former KLA Pointing to the lack of progress, the Of- municipality started to the Ministry of Culture. The Ministry of commanders - the Democratic Party of fice of the Auditor in 2012 criticised the Culture says a revamp the former Mother What’s being done: The Kosovo, PDK, and the Alliance for the municipality for failing to fully utilize its special piece Teresa Boulevard (Now acting director of the Insti- of glass will Future of Kosovo, AAK. budget, especially for capital projects. called Ibrahim Rugova and tute for Monuments, Bur- complete the The LDK has held the mayor’s office The first round of voting on Novem- Zahir Pajaziti boulevards) buqe Bakija said fountain fountain’s preser- for 13 years. For six of them, Isa Mustafa ber 3 showed that enthusiasm in the vation. in the city center last year, will be covered over with has been in the post. city for Mustafa had waned considera- workers encountered a special glass from Turkey. On Sunday, Merita Krasniqi cast her bly. He received 43 per cent of the vote, fountain underground. The Institute and Prishtina’s ballot for Mustafa, just as she had done in well down on the 57.2 per cent he won Cultural heritage experts municipality reached an 2009 and 2007. “I thought Mustafa could in 2009. concluded that the fountain agreement in December make things better with a new staff,” she In the second round, voters over- was built between 16th and 2012. Mayor Isa Mustafa said. whelmingly shifted to Ahmeti who won 20th centuries and asked pledged 15,000 euro for the But most voters decided otherwise, 12,000 extra votes. for its protection of it. While fountain’s restoration and saying it was time for another econo- A bruised LDK said it was analyzing the boulevard is basically conservation. Bakija said mist, Shpend Ahmeti, of Lezvizia Vet- its performance in the elections and finished, the area where the that this money was not evendosje (Self-Determination Move- would soon produce an explanation fountain was discovered be enough to complete the ment), to have a go. for why it lost in Prishtina. remains open. project, so Ministry of Cul- He received 51.7 per cent of the vote An LDK official, Vjosa Osmani, What’s wrong: Manager ture pledged an additional compared to Mustafa’s 48.3 per cent in blamed the party’s defeat on “a coali- of the Teatro Cafe, near the 10,000 euro. She said the Sunday’s runoff election. tion between Vetevendosje and the National Theatre, continues Turkish International Coop- Political analyst Dukagjin Gorani de- PDK”. to wonder as why a huge eration and Coordination scribed Mustafa’s defeat as “a disastrous On Sunday, Prishtina Insight hole in front of his business Agency has committed for loss for the LDK,” which also lost 9 coun- viewed text messages received by PDK hasn’t been covered. “I help to bring the glass from cil seats and its majority in the municipal supporters, urging them to vote for Ah- cannot serve my guests their country. “We have the assembly. meti, but it could not be confirmed if freely due to this uncovered money. All we need is the “A party that is not able to run the this was part of a large-scale campaign. hole,” said the manager, glass.” It’s not clear when capital is going to be rejected,” Gorani The answer to the question of the who preferred to remain that will happen.