Analysts in Pristina believe that the demands of the opposition, civil society and students for the dismissal of the Minister of Communities and Returns in the Kosovo government Aleksandar Jablanović are just an excuse to “topple the government” and eventually cause early elections. They also believe that yesterday’s demonstrations were the largest since 1999 and that the government should therefore take care not to lose support of the voters.
Petrit Zogaj from NGO sector said that the request for dismissal of Jablanović is just an excuse for demonstrations. According to him, the cause of the problem is socio-economic in nature, and if it continues with mass demonstrations, early elections are very possible.
Political analyst Fatmir Sheholi said that the demonstrations in Pristina showed that the dissatisfaction of citizens is steadily growing and that such protests could lead to social unrest. Sheholi particularly emphasized that the dismissal of the Minister Jablanović was not only requested by the opposition, but also by senior officials of the ruling coalition. He believes that after such condemnation, Jablanovic lessened the chance to deal with the job of returning displaced persons, because the return requires maximum cooperation with all local governments and the international community.
Sheholi believes that the cause of a demonstration is bad government policy towards employment of youth, problem of “Trepca”, bad privatization processes, inability to reach the liberalization of the visa regime, a high rate of bank loans, non-implementation of the collective agreement for the teachers, the issue of the University in Pristina and many others that led Kosovo in a difficult situation.
