Orders from above (Kosova Sot)
The paper’s front-page editorial argues that different ministers of the Kosovo government make different statements on the same day and “this is nothing extraordinary for a government that includes a mixture of the close interests of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) that are above the public interest”. The editorial notes that while the Minister of Finance admitted on Monday that Kosovo has yet to meet one of the key requirements for visa liberalization – an improved public procurement system, the Minister of European Integration says that the government has met all the visa liberalization criteria. “Reports, polls, independent observations and investigative research reveal that the public procurement is one of the most non-transparent and corrupt sectors. The main body of the Public Procurement is led by a PDK member who is under investigation and the ruling coalition has done nothing to amend this grave situation … This arrogant government doesn’t find it difficult to lie to the public and even blame the European Union for its own incompetence. The visa liberalization criteria would have been met if there had been political readiness to make positive changes and reforms. But as far as public procurement is concerned, no one should expect that these government officials, who have made millions by abusing big tenders, will implement reforms in this sector. As long as these leaders are in power, the procurement mechanisms will submit to ‘orders from above’,” the editorial concludes.