The Serbian List MPs have still not decided whether they will support the election of the incumbent Deputy Prime Minister Hashim Thaci for the new President of Kosovo, says Nenad Rasic.
For the coalition agreement between the ruling parties, DPK and LDK, Deputy Prime Minister Hashim Thaci should replace Atifete Jahjaga as President of Kosovo.
The Austrian daily Österreich, published an article, which says that the current Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, will be elected President of Kosovo next week. According to the daily, Thaci has majority support of the population of Kosovo, being that the 48 year old had led Kosovo towards its independence.
KTV editor-in-chief Adriatik Kelmendi argues in an opinion piece that “Kosovo today is hostage of a mysterious agreement between two friends, [PDK leader] Hashim Thaci and [PDK deputy leader] Kadri Veseli, “who are willing to risk many things, including the position of the PDK, to fulfill each other’s ambitions. The question is why?” Kelmendi writes that if Thaci is elected President, it is almost certain that Veseli will be elected leader of the PDK but, according to Kelmendi, Veseli won’t be able to fill the gap that Thaci will leave behind.
Political analyst Halil Matoshi argues in an opinion piece that Hashim Thaci, leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), cannot pretend to be a unifying figure if he gets elected President of Kosovo in an Assembly building surrounded by police and without the presence of opposition MPs”. According to Matoshi, Thaci’s election under such circumstances would bring about further division in Kosovo’s society; it would outrage the opposition, would not help the country emerge from the current crisis and would result in further clashes.
Citing unnamed sources within the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Gazeta Tribuna reports that PDK parliamentary group during its meeting today proposed that PDK MP Rafet Rama should be Hashim Thaci’s rival for Kosovo president. The parliamentary group also discussed about the quorum needed for the election of the president, and issued a decision that all PDK MPs are required to be in the session the voting day, regardless of the situation created there.
President of the Kosovo Assembly Kadri Veseli said today that the leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) Hashim Thaci will be elected president of Kosovo and that “this process is not becoming complicated.” Referring to President Atifete Jahjaga’s remarks that Kosovo doesn’t need international intervention to resolve the political situation, Veseli said Kosovo needs international support, particularly that of the US. Veseli did not say when the next Assembly session will take place but that they will step up talks with the opposition before announcing the date.
Assembly of Kosovo has prolonged its winter holiday more than usual, after a season when tear gas by the opposition parties was thrown almost at every session.
Assembly Presidency gathered last week however they did not set the date for the next session. They said the date will be set at the next meeting of the Presidency which is to commence on 6 or 7 February.
Elections for the President of the Republic of Kosovo will take place within the constitutional deadline. The elections will be probably held in late February and the ruling coalition has no fear about the outcome because over two-thirds of the parliament support the government, said Petrit Selimi, Kosovo deputy FM, referring to the presidential campaign of the current Minister of Foreign Affairs and former Prime Minister Hashim Thaci.
“The country cannot be held hostage by two people and their whims,” the leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj said in an interview for Gazeta Fjala.
According to Haradinaj, they have violated the Constitution and should therefore pave the way for Kosovo to become a country governed by the rule of law, and create a favourable environment for the reduction of unemployment by activating major economical projects.
Verdict to Oliver Ivanovic is deeply unfair. Because of it the fact is even more apparent that even today no one has been held responsible for thousands of deaths and displaced Serbs from Kosovo.
Thus, in an interview for Blic, Marko Djuric, Director of the Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija, answers the question of where is the justice when Hashim Thaci is walking free, while Ivanovic gets nine years in prison for war crimes.