UNMIK Headlines 10 June
PDK will not negotiate post of Prime Minister (Koha Ditore)
The post of Prime Minister will not be included in talks on the future ruling coalition that the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) will hold with other political parties. The post is reserved for PDK leader Hashim Thaci. PDK deputy leader Enver Hoxhaj told the paper on Monday that the PDK will wait for the certification of election results before it begins negotiations for the coalition. Hoxhaj said the PDK does not have any “red lines” for political parties, except for the post of Prime Minister. “The vote of the people and the trust given to Prime Minister Thaci is the best evidence that this matter has been decided for this mandate,” Hoxhaj said. “We as a political party had a Prime Minister who has been successful for two mandates, he won three national elections and led key developments for our country, he also earned the full trust of the people to lead the next government; therefore, negotiations on the head of government are out of the question”.
PDK wants coalition with LDK (Tribuna)
On the front page, the paper quotes a senior official from the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) saying that despite accusations from the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) during the election campaign, the heads of the two parties had a “harmonious” meeting in February where they decided to head to early elections in June. The paper recalls one of its previous reports when it claimed that the two parties had also agreed at the time on forming a post-election coalition. The PDK senior official said the party is more disappointed by actions of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) leader, Ramush Haradinaj, than those of LDK leader Isa Mustafa. The source said PDK was open to cooperating with the AAK, but Haradinaj’s position had changed after his return from the US, where he took part in the Morning Prayers. Ever since, Haradinaj is said to have been on “a strange offensive”.
Isa Mustafa will not resign (Koha Ditore)
The paper reports in a front-page article that Isa Mustafa has ruled out his resignation from the post of leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) after his party failed to win the 8 June national elections. After the meeting of the LDK chairmanship, Mustafa told reporters he has a lot of work to do. “We have much more important things to do now… Elections [in the LDK] will be held in autumn this year,” Mustafa was quoted as saying. Mustafa also said that the LDK chairmanship did not discuss a possible coalition with the PDK. “We did not discuss this issue. We announced our positions earlier. But today we only assessed the election process,” he said.
Kurti calls for blockade of PDK (Koha Ditore)
The Vetevendosje Movement will hold talks with the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) and Nisma, to block the formation of the government by the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK). Vetevendosje leader Albin Kurti on Monday talked about the possibility of a united opposition block that would prevent a PDK-led government. “We are now in a phase when we should not allow this party of corruption and crime, of deals with Serbia and abusive privatizations, to win another mandate of bad governance … Now is the time to prevent the PDK from forming a coalition and continuing the bad governance. We need to stop the leading political party and then we will see what can be done,” Kurti told a press conference in Pristina.
“Serbian List” agrees to enter into coalition with PDK (Zeri)
Representatives of the Serbian List told the paper that they are ready to accept a coalition offer from Prime Minister Thaci. The Serbian List is expected to have eight seats in the Assembly, and another two seats will go to the Democratic Progressive Party led by Nenad Rasic. “We have yet to begin talks, but if the PDK wants a coalition with the winning Serb party, we will accept this. For the time being, we are waiting for the results, but meanwhile we can discuss coalition options,” a Serbian List member told the paper. Milovan Drecun, leader of the so-called Assembly of Kosovo and Metohija, said Serbs should be part of “the provisional institutions of self-government in Kosovo”. “I am not saying that they should recognize those institutions, but they need to be part of them so that they can raise the voice of Kosovo Serbs, prevent discrimination against them, and contribute to the return of all Serb IDPs,” Drecun said.
CEC still does not have final results (Lajm)
The Central Election Commission (CEC) was not able to provide preliminary results of the vote counting yesterday, even though they have announced that in their last press conference on Sunday. The head of the CEC, Valdete Daka, said that the early results do not include the votes of people who voted outside their normal polling stations, votes sent by mail, and votes of persons with special needs, adding that votes from 17 polling stations had still not be counted. As of yesterday evening, on the CEC web page, only 99.62 percent of votes had been counted. Of those, the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) held the lead with 30.72 percent, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) had 25.72 percent, Vetevendosje had below 14 percent, and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) had less than 10 percent.
Ashton hails Kosovo elections (Tribuna)
European Union High Representative Catherine Ashton hailed Sunday’s elections in Kosovo and said they are a step forward towards the consolidation of democracy. Ashton thanked the EU observers for their work during the elections process and the OSCE for its support. “We are now looking forward to an early formation of the government that will take forward the work on all the key challenges, including economic reforms, efforts to improve the rule of law, as well as continuing with the implementation of the April 2013 Agreement, stemming from the dialogue on the normalisation of relations with Serbia”, said Ashton in a statement.
EU observers: Well-organized elections (Lajm)
One day after Kosovars voted to elect their representatives for the Kosovo Assembly, the European Union Election Observation Mission (EUEOM) presented preliminary findings on the process. The Sunday elections were more transparent, well-organized and consolidated than the 2013 local elections, said Roberto Gualtieri, the Head of EUEOM. The final report is expected to be published after two months.
Kosovo showed democratic spirit (Lajm)
KFOR Commander General-Major Salvatore Farina said that the calm environment in which elections were held shows once more democratic maturity, while the large participation of different ethnic groups is a clear demonstration of democratic spirit. According to him, the Kosovo police showed professionalism and efficiency in providing the necessary security framework, both north and south of the Iber/Ibar River.
Mustafa and Limaj meet in Pristina (Bota Sot)
Citing reports from Indeksonline, the paper reports that the leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Isa Mustafa, had a meeting yesterday in a Pristina restaurant with the leader of the Initiative for Kosovo, Fatmir Limaj. They discussed the issue of a coalition with the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK).