UNMIK Headlines 26 March
Opposition calls off today’s protest (dailies)
Opposition parties – Vetevendosje, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), Initiative for Kosovo (NISMA) – announced to the press yesterday that they are calling off their anti-government protest scheduled to take place today in Pristina. Opposition leaders said the protest is being postponed for another date. Koha Ditore quotes sources saying that there are two reasons that led to the postponement of the protest the first being that Vetevendosje is of the view that peaceful protests are not effective and the second that the party also considers a united opposition and civil society bloc should be formed before a new protest takes place. AAK and NISMA are reported not to be on board with this idea for fear that Vetevendosje would in this way become superior as the civil society representatives that could join the opposition are mostly Vetevendosje supporters. According to Zeri, the protest was cancelled because of disagreements amongst the three opposition parties. The leader of the AAK Ramush Haradinaj said the protest was postponed because of the seriousness of the issues they are opposing. In a Facebook post, Vetevendosje leader Visar Ymeri said the “united opposition” needs more internal consolidation and expanding of the opposition front. “Bearing in mind the provocations and police attacks on our opposition actions, it is best not to hold this protest ahead of Easter and to postpone it for another time,” wrote Ymeri. Meanwhile NISMA leader Fatmir Limaj said the opposition’s demands remain unchanged and that the protests will continue.
Haradinaj: New protest could take place as early as next week (Telegrafi)
The leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) Ramush Haradinaj said after a meeting of its party’s leadership that the opposition’s protest was not canceled, only postponed for another time which could be as early as next week. Haradinaj admitted there are differences in opinions amongst the opposition bloc but said they will continue to insist on their demands together. “AAK has its own stances and of course there are differences but we try to turn our stances into joint decisions in agreement with coalition partners,” said Haradinaj.
Mustafa insists there will be no municipality of Prilluzhe (Koha Ditore)
Prime Minister of Kosovo Isa Mustafa in a visit to several municipalities yesterday dismissed the possibility of a new Serb-majority municipality of Prilluzhe being formed. “I don’t know where this idea came from, the problem of Prilluzhe municipality is an issue we have never discussed in the government nor do we plan to establish a new municipality,” said Mustafa. The media earlier reported that the creation of the Serb-majority municipality was a condition put forth by the Serbian List in exchange for its MPs endorsing Hashim Thaci’s candidacy for president of Kosovo.