Veseli: Haradinaj – the only alternative for PM

(RTK1)

“Our nominee Ramush Haradinaj will be Prime Minister of Kosovo, because it is a matter of interpretation of  the will of our citizens,” the PDK leader Kadri Veseli said in an interview with Radio Free Europe.

“At the same time, it implies compliance with our Republic’s Constitution. In other words, the options that Ramush Haradinaj will not be Prime Minister of the Kosovo government in the coming four years are nearly inexistent,” Veseli stated, according to RTK portal.

About 20 percent of ballot boxes to be recounted for irregularities

(KTV)

Since the time when June 11 election ballot counting has started, around 20 percent of ballot boxes have been taken for recount

At a polling station in Gllogovc/Glogovac, PDK got 271 votes, whereas its MP candidates got 144 votes more. At another polling station in Prishtinë/Pristina, the PDK-AAK-Nisma coalition got 89 votes, whereas its list leader Kadri Veseli got 152 votes.

Vote discrepancy happened also at a polling station in Vushtrri/Vucitrn. The PDK-AAK-Nisma coalition got 92 votes, whereas the second candidate on the list, Ramush Haradinaj, got 229 votes.

At a polling station in Skenderaj/Srbica, LDK got no votes, whereas its MP candidates got 339 votes.

VV at a polling station in Gjilan/Gnjilane got 152 votes, whereas its candidates got 97 votes more than the political entity.

Those are some of the 280 ballot boxes that will be recounted due to data discrepancies.

Election observers believe that those irregularities could have been also caused by certain political entity interests.

Thaçi to discuss local elections this Wednesday

(Klan Kosova)

The Kosovo President Hashim Thaci has invited political party representatives to a meeting this Wednesday, to schedule the date of local elections.

The meeting will take place in the Kosovo Assembly premises, and it will be open to the media.

Later during the evening RTK portal reported that political parties confirmed their participation in this meeting.

Ibër bridge revitalisation stagnated

(KTV)

The work on revitalising Ibër bridge had started pompously, but situation there remains as it was. Although the project should have been completed in May this year, the work has been interrupted long time ago following an order by north Mitrovicë/Mitrovica mayor, Goran Rakic.

The Albanian Municipal Assembly members in north Mitrovicë/Mitrovica say that Rakic’s decision for interrupting the work which had almost been completed is unclear to them.

KTV during the whole day tried to contact mayor Rakic, but he did not answer the calls.

On the other hand, the whole work in south Mitrovicë/Mitrovica has been completed, and technical check was conducted last week.

The south Mitrovicë/Mitrovica mayor Agim Bahtiri says that the process of revitalizing Ibër bridge has failed several times, but he expects that the reminder of work will be completed soon.

KTV sent written questions also to the European Union Office, which was the contractor to the company for the bridge revitalization project.

Since the contract expired in May, the question was how will the EU Office act from now onwards, but answers were not provided.

No mass grave found in Kizevak

(Klan Kosova)

The excavation work has been completed in Kizevak of Raska, Serbia, where existence of a mass grave with Albanian bodies was suspected.

The news was confirmed to Klan Kosova by chairperson of the Governmental Committee for Missing Persons Prenk Gjetaj. Mr Gjetaj said that the work which started at the end of 2015, having been five times interrupted and continued, now has been completed without any finding.

Gjetaj stated that the location, in which, according to the latest reports from Serbian side, existence of a mass grave was suspected, could be a source of fraud.

According to Gjetaj, there are still 1.660 citizens missing since the last war in Kosovo.

Mustafa conditions coalition with Prime Minister’s post

(Summary of KTV Rubicon show)

KTV Rubicon show hosted the LDK chairman and the Acting Prime Minister of Kosovo, Isa Mustafa, to discuss current developments in Kosovo.

Mustafa said that election result was not expected for the party he runs. Asked if he had thought of withdrawing from his post of the Prime Minister, he said he never thought of resigning, adding that the issue of Association of Serb majority municipalities and Demarcation with Montenegro were pure political agendas of the opposition parties.

He believes that the work done by his Government failed to be sufficiently presented or publicized. According to him, this was the defect of his governance.

Mustafa also said that Demarcation was not sent to Assembly, because there was insisting on sending it together with the motion of no-confidence against Government. He explained that he was under pressure by the US State Department to pass Demarcation a day before the no-confidence motion, but he did not accept to do so.

Mustafa also explained that two weeks before the no-confidence motion, he was informed by Foreign Minister Enver Hoxhaj that PDK was willing to enter elections in June, but LDK was against them. The issue was not agreed between the coalition partners because, according to him, PDK was not providing any reasons for this. He recalled that LDK insisted on holding local and general elections together to decrease costs and inform the public on time. “All political parties worked against LDK on this,” he said.

He praised all ministers for their work, including those of PDK. Responding to accusations of Kadri Veseli that he was not capable of taking decisions, Mustafa said that Veseli was never able to chair Assembly meetings appropriately  . He mentioned several major decisions that were taken in Government, saying that Demarcation was a decision that was up to the Assembly to take.

He said that one of the reasons why PDK voted the no-confidence motion was because the Government he led was fighting the crime. However, he did not regret entering the coalition between PDK, as there was no other choice at that time and the country had entered a blind alley. He believes that despite all the oppositions it had, his Government was the best one after the end of the war in Kosovo.

“There was no Government of this country that faced more violence and attacks, with an entirely difficult situation to work and communicate, starting from the beginning with the Jablanovic case, with violence in the streets, with tears and Molotov,” Acting Prime Minister of Kosovo believes.

He did not choose to run for PM in these elections because he wanted LDK to open to its members and because he had told his party members earlier that he would be there only for one mandate. He explained that Avdullah Hoti was not the only candidate for PM, but also three other party deputy chairmen were in the race.

Mustafa insisted that Hoti should not be blamed for election results and he has no responsibility for them. “Hoti has no responsibility for this. He has produced results and gave his contribution to LDK,” he said.

He considers that Vetëvendosje’s result was unexpected, saying that it is a major result for this political entity. He expressed his surprise with this result after the violence that this party expressed. He also said that Nisma për Kosovën was also a winner among the PAN coalition. Nevertheless, he said PAN lost.

“Winners of loss! If someone is a winner of loss, than in this case it is PAN, because with this number of MPs it is impossible for them, very difficult or impossible to make the Government. Such governance would be utterly dependent on Srpska List,” Mustafa stated.

He said that politicians from Albania interfered in Kosovo elections, not mentioning any names. Mustafa also said that Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi played a role in the no-confidence motion against the Government run by him, adding that President suggested minority communities to vote for it. Yet, Mustafa said that the institution of the President must be respected.

He did not rule out possibility of communication with AAK and Nisma, however, he insisted that there will be no coalition with PDK, under any circumstance or any price. He said that LDK’s condition for any coalition will be to have the Prime Minister’s post.

“LDK does not have votes for Haradinaj or Kurti to become the Prime Minister,” he continued. Mustafa said that upon certification of results they will be open to talks, but under no condition for LDK to join any list.

“We can discuss with everyone, but we will discuss with everyone only under the condition that LDK has the Prime Minister. Not with PDK, not even with or without the Prime Minister. We can talk with others, but so that LDK leads the country’s governance,” Mustafa underlined.

He does not believe that PAN will be able to form the Government. Commenting on Albin Kurti’s statements on a coalition with LDK, he said they are ready to talk with them.

At the end, Mustafa said he will be the LDK leader until May 2019 when the LDK General Assembly will convene.