By Shpend Kursani

While Isa Mustafa will be the mascot of future state violence, the magnitude it will take will depend on how much of it PDK wants to use against opposition parties and citizens.

Before February 26, Hashim Thaçi desperately needed Isa Mustafa. Since February 26, Isa Mustafa desperately needs Hashim Thaçi. This is very dangerous for Kosovo’s very near future.

Before Thaçi became President-elect, Mustafa was not alone. After all, he had the support of his main coalition partner to curb the demands made by the opposition or anyone else for that matter. Back then, PDK had every reason to support Mustafa, because they still had to take over the presidency. Now that Hashim Thaçi has been elected President, his party has every reason to support the opposition instead of their coalition partner, and they will probably do so. As such, things can become even more violent.

Mustafa’s behavior – pressuring and potentially blackmailing his own party MPs to vote Thaçi for President – is MAD, Mutually Assured Destruction. In other words, Mustafa did an incredible job of digging the deepest political grave for both himself and his party. While this should be of  little concern to people beyond LDK’s narrow political and criminal interests, it is the danger which this poses to Kosovo’s near future that should concern us.

In a single day, Mustafa increased PDK’s future political leverage as many times as he decreased that of his own party. After all, he made sure that from February 26 onwards, PDK can unilaterally decide on the coalition’s future. This also means that they can unilaterally decide on the future of LDK, and most importantly, the future of Isa Mustafa himself. Before Thaçi’s election as President, both coalition leaders depended on the agreement reached in December 2014. After Thaçi becomes President, Mustafa is the only man whose position and future depends on that agreement. It does not look good.

Read more: http://prishtinainsight.com/the-violent-prospects-of-a-failing-coalition/