UNMIK Headlines 13 September
Assembly session postponed because of PDK (Koha Ditore)
On the front page, the paper quotes a source as saying that the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) was not ready for resuming the constitutive session of the Kosovo Assembly that was scheduled to take place yesterday and only used the Serb List request as a pretext to delay it. The reason why PDK did not wish to attend the session on Friday is because it could not count on the votes of all its MPs, the source added. One of the party MPs, Azem Syla, was out of Kosovo on Friday, one MP who is said to be a senior member of the party was not ready to vote for the PDK candidate for Assembly speaker while the third MP, member of the Justice Party (PD) which is part of the coalition with PDK, announced he would not support PDK because it failed to deliver on its promises to allow wearing of headscarves in schools. The source said however that Syla is expected back this week, the other PDK official could be convinced to support Arsim Bajrami’s candidacy for speaker while PD’s Gezim Kelmendi said he would change his mind as soon as the promise to allow girls to wear headscarves in schools is fulfilled.
Coalition bloc’s patience running out (Zeri)
Parties of the post-election coalition and Vetevendosje announced they will wait in silence for the Assembly to convene on 18 September but warned that if the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) attempts to once again postpone the session, they will undertake “democratic measures” to unblock the institutional crisis. They said they would not tolerate the process being dragged on indefinitely.
Internationals don’t trust Vetevendosje with dialogue (Tribuna)
The recent agreement between the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Alliance for Future of Kosovo (AAK), Initiative for Kosovo (NISMA) and Vetevendosje which stipulates that a representative from Vetevendosje will lead future dialogue with Belgrade is reported to have caused serious concerns with the international community. “We have seen that some Vetevendosje leaders insist there will be no resumption of dialogue without mutual recognition. Such a thing is impossible for the fact that Serbia continues to pledge that it will not recognize Kosovo under any circumstance. Insistence of parties on their stances may lead to the failure of the dialogue”, the paper quotes an international official as saying.
Vetevendosje to organize referendum after Assembly is constituted (Zeri)
The paper reports that Vetevendosje movement will organize a referendum after the Assembly of Kosovo is constituted and its membership will be asked whether they support joining the possible new government coalition made of Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Alliance for Future of Kosovo (AAK) and Initiative for Kosovo (NISMA). Vetevendosje deputy leader, Visar Ymeri, said the referendum would be held as soon as discussions on forming of the new government begin.
Thaci claims Kosovo is part of alliance against ISIS (Koha Ditore)
Outgoing Prime Minister of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, offered Kosovo’s assistance to the global alliance fighting Islamic terrorist group, ISIS. He said the Government of Kosovo is working on a number of measures as part of its efforts to prevent its citizens from joining the fighting in Syria and elsewhere. Thaci made the comments in a Facebook post.