“I am trying and I have not given up on efforts to increase pressure on the government to resign before we go to elections. I don’t understand their hesitation to use this political right in parliament, to go to elections by dismissing the government,” Ramush Haradinaj, leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), said in an interview for Radio Free Europe.
Mr. Haradinaj, lately you have been insisting on bringing down the government, be it through a motion of mistrust in parliament or through petitions signed by citizens. Elections are due in several months, so why all the rush?
The governing quality in the country is poor. Going to elections without punishing this government, the way that Kosovo has been governed so far, without assessing the damage the country has suffered with this government in the rule of law area, without punishing high-level corruption, the lack of investments, I think this would be a mistake by the political class and we would waste an opportunity for a better start for Kosovo. Through the motion, I am trying to get support from opposition parliamentary groups and MPs, but also through other forms of public pressure, so that Kosovo can go to elections but first to punish the poor quality of this government, so that we can have a better start. A new beginning for Kosovo, new practice and not the ones we have seen governing Kosovo so far. It is unreasonable not to exercise this right in parliament, to dismiss a government that has done a poor job and which has inflicted damage on the country. As a result of its poor quality, the current government has lost the majority in parliament. I don’t understand why we should go to elections by abolishing parliament, and not by dismissing the government, because it is the government that has lost the majority. I have not given up on the pressure to dismiss the government before going to elections. I don’t understand their hesitation to use this political right in parliament: dismiss the government and then go to elections.
What is your main criticism against the current government?
Even in the first term of the Thaci government, I said I disagree with the logic of this government. They did not think about creating new values through government. New values in the economy, the education, healthcare, rule of law and foreign policy. They simply thought that the government is there and did not aim for added values. This being said, their tolerance increased vis-a-vis corruption, bad practices in the rule of law, judiciary and other areas. There was a lack of a serious plan to have new values in our country and this in turn led to the further decline of existing values. Kosovo today is far worse than it was one year ago.
What do you offer differently from this government?
When I said resignation in the beginning, I think that the current government logic must not continue, because the government has turned into a routine. Instead, governance should be an opportunity to provide better quality in rule of law, economy, private entrepreneurs and those who create new jobs. The government needs to pay special attention to the credibility of institutions, work on mutual trust, and create a stable economic offer based on our key resources: coal is a precious resource for electricity, heating, for the agriculture, oil products and so on. Kosovo’s metals are also a precious resource. There are also many opportunities in the food industry. The agricultural and food industry can absorb one third of the unemployed population. In order to bring this kind of governance to our country, we need to stop the current logic and practices and punish them, so that it becomes known that Kosovo has punished this and we should not allow any tolerance by the future government to continue with the same or similar practices.
Your party has criticized talks between Kosovo and Serbia. But Mr. Blerim Shala, a member of your party, is part of Kosovo’s delegation. Is there any discordance in the positions of your party?
No, I see it differently. We have contributed to dialogue. We saw the April 19 agreement as a real opportunity to resolve many problems and for relations with Serbia, but also for our own internal developments, especially in the northern municipalities. However the implementation part after the April 19 agreement did not have the right pace. Instead of focusing most of the energy in implementation, dialogue has generated problems in areas where we reached agreements. We got to a point where topics on the ground and implementation are stuck. This is a serious position by the Alliance, it is not only my opinion or the opinion of a colleague; we think this practice of dialogue should not go on. Dialogue should move at the EU Enlargement Commission, because both we and Serbia aspire to join the EU. We need to get rid of the current practice or model of dialogue, because this is not helping implementation on the ground, instead it has become an obstacle for implementation.
This is election year and so far there have been reports about several coalition options. Does the Alliance have any “terms” for co-government?
Like I said before, I think Kosovo needs a strong detachment from the current way of thinking. If we maintain current government practices and logic, we will have a very difficult time setting the country on the right path. We need to create new jobs, we need to reach out to families that have no employed members, we need to increase the average salary in the country, and we need to improve the quality of life. I prefer to co-govern with political parties or forces that want to bring about essential changes and not continue with the logic and practices we have seen so far.
What does this mean?
This means no co-government with the ruling parties.
