Kosovo government in its first hundred days was faced with numerous problems. Wave of migrations and massive protests are indicating on growing dissatisfaction, reasons for new protests are not missing.
Analysts wonder whether such government could survive any longer and whether Kosovo Police is ready to secure future protests. The government has been pending for half a year. A twenty-one member cabinet with only two women, started its work without a plan and program, and three months later there is neither economic development nor political stability, assess analysts.
Fully packed buses are leaving Kosovo. Massive protests and readiness to occupy streets again, dismissal of Jablanovic and boycott of the Serbian List, show that after a hundred days government is at the very beginning or at the beginning of its end, says Nenad Maksimovic from the Center of Peace and Tolerance.
“Any reason for toppling the government, the special court or non-participation of the Serbian List in the work of government, is only an excuses and indicator of substantial and deep division between Albanian political options. I only hope the Serbian List won’t find itself between those two opposed political blocks and that it won’t influence future escalation of political clashes and redirection of attention from inner-political events toward ethnic issues in Kosovo, which is very sensitive,” said Maksimovic.
Unrests that marred last protests in Pristina were bad for Kosovo, and for the organizers, however the right on peaceful gathering can’t be denied, claims analyst Albinot Maloku.
“Protests as such are image of democracy and only state where there are no protests is North Korea. People in Kosovo have a hundred and one reasons to protest, all in their own ways, all for their own requests,” says Maloku.
Earlier survey carried out by Kosovo Center for Security Studies, which highlighted growing possibility for massive violent protests, appears to be true.
“If certain organization calls on protest, people are ready to go to streets in bigger numbers, with the possibility that those protests are used or misused by certain political actors. Thus, there is a potential,” said executive director of the KCSS Florian Çehaja.
In Kosovo Police say that they respect the right on peaceful gathering and stress that they are ready to control all future protests. “Kosovo Police has sufficient capacities to control any situation which could emerge in Kosovo, but we can’t predict the nature of protests. Kosovo Police respects the right of every individual to protest peacefully, if the law on public gatherings is respected. In contrary, I would like to stress, police has sufficient capacities to secure any sort of protests, as was the case so far,” stated Baki Kelani, Kosovo Police spokesperson.
In case that, beside Pristina, protests take place simultaneously in Prizren and other places, Çehaja argues that police won’t have sufficient capacities to prevent potential unrest at protests of bigger proportions.
Kosovo Liberation Army veterans have already announced protests for 11 March, whereas the council for protection of rights of the KLA fighters warned that unrest could take place on Wednesday, which they might not be able to control.
