Lumir Abdixhiku,clarifies in the beginning of his opinion piece that assessment and criticizing of one of the parties in Kosovo, be it the government or the opposition, does not necessarily mean that one is taking sides. To him, establishment of the Association/Community Agreement for Serb-majority municipalities represents a wider autonomy for Serb minority in Kosovo, which can be used to prevent Kosovo’s political and economic development. “This, due to the fact that Serb minority here, represented by current political structures, who in essence represent the government of Serbia, do not intend to accept, treat or contribute for the Republic, but in the contrary, their intention is to undo it,” Abdixhiku writes. He adds that there are no chances for such an agreement to pass if submitted at any EU court. In a democratic system, if a public position excludes other ethnicity, we are dealing with a racist and anti-European treatment.
However, identification of the problem, he stresses, does not automatically mean that any solution is suitable. He says that violent, non-democratic, immature acts of the opposition at the Assembly and in the streets are not a solution and they will even strengthen more the current government which led Kosovo to this momentum. Violence only legitimizes the reactions of the government and insisting for the establishment of the Association. Today, the biggest winner remains former Prime Minister, Hashim Thaci, and if the same trend continues, there will be no change of the Agreement or the political actors, but strengthening of those that are to be blamed for all this mess.
Abdixhiku stresses that the solution should be found by respecting institutions, despite opposition’s reasonable distrust expressed towards them, however rejecting every single institution would not make sense, and even statehood would not make sense in such case. The second solution could be found in the principal of majority, not only the parliamentary one, it can also be the majority of Constitutional decision-makers or the citizens. There are sufficient mechanisms to measure this majority, notes Abdixhiku. All those who consider that Association is harmful while violence the only solution, are the biggest destroyers of the cause, stresses Abdixhiku, and wonders how can those who in euphoria exclude any other way, do not realize that they have lost people’s support and in an unaware manner supported the Association. “All those who consider that international support for Kosovo is unimportant and those who consider that international support means everything, have minimal rational ideas,” he says adding that there is a middle between the “carrot and stick” used by the internationals, but this middle could be maximized only through a national unity.
He considers that opposition should have understood the decision of the Constitutional Court to suspend the agreement on Association of Serb-majority municipalities as their victory and use this time to consolidate public perception. Despite opposition’s distrust on Constitutional Court, they should exhaust all institutional arguments.
Abdixhiku considers that support of the population cannot be reached by violence but through continuous calm gatherings, boycotts and not blockades, in order to appear safe and convincing. And if this support is not reached even then, the cause of the opposition is temporarily lost, until the time when they manage to govern, and engage then on political alternatives and reconsidering of the Agreement. For now, the Constitutional Court and discussions for a national consensus, remain the starting point.
