“There is a very clear tendency to force us into entering negotiations with Thaci and the Democratic Party of Kosovo. There is a tendency to keep one part of the power at any cost,” Ramush Haradinaj, leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), says in an interview for Radio Free Europe. Haradinaj also argues that the opposition coalition (LDK-AAK-NISMA) will not make any compromise with the PDK, “despite the fact that the decision of the Constitutional Court tries to force political parties to talk with the PDK”.

Mr. Haradinaj, what will your coalition do after the decision of the Constitutional Court on the election of the Assembly President?

We want the assembly session to be held as soon as possible, because we have already wasted a lot of time. Our coalition and our political partners are ready for the assembly session. In our opinion, this is how the assembly session will go: the right of the PDK to nominate the Assembly President will be consumed, and the outcome will be known, they will lack the necessary number of votes. When it fails to elect the Assembly President, this right then goes to the Assembly and Assembly members will then have to find a way to elect the President and the presidency. We have already found this way, fortunately for Kosovo. We have our candidate, Isa Mustafa, we have the necessary number of votes and we are waiting for the assembly session. In our opinion, the next assembly session is going to be successful because Mustafa will be elected Assembly President.

You think that the point that requires an agreement gives legal-constitutional rights to Isa Mustafa to be nominated for the post of Assembly President?

I commented on the decision. We are not opposing the decision, we are commenting on it based on our opinions. We are entitled to make our comments. We were surprised by the decision because it seems as it if was written in the offices of the Democratic Party of Kosovo and not by the Constitutional Court. There is a very clear tendency to force us into negotiations with Mr. Thaci and the PDK. There is a tendency to hold on to a part of power at any cost. Our position is clear: we will not talk, negotiate or enter into co-government with Mr. Thaci. We are determined to make changes. The LDK-AAK-NISMA coalition and its partners are determined to make full changes without the PDK. We have a solution in the Assembly, we don’t want to send the country to elections because Kosovo does not have the luxury of spending tens of millions of Euros and wasting time in elections. It is a great fortune that even though the PDK will fail for the second time with its nomination, the LDK-AAK-NISMA coalition and its partners have the solution. We welcome the assembly session as soon as possible so that we can proceed with establishing institutions.

According to you, this rules out the possibility of the PDK getting the post of Assembly Speaker, and the LDK-AAK-NISMA coalition the government?

We are not planning to make any compromises with the PDK. The only ones that can give the Assembly President and solve the situation are the LDK-AAK-NISMA coalition and our political partners. This is reality and there is nothing inbetween. The tendency to force us into negotiations is futile. Those circles that have prepared this decision were wrong, because our concept for making changes is serious. Look at the current situation, I will mention only two-three arguments. Look at the level of corruption. Look at the rule of law, there is great hypocrisy for years they [the government] have coexisted and flirted with fundamentalism and in the end they staged a spectacular action. It is a tragedy for Kosovo that this government has allowed this to happen. In other words, we don’t want to make partial changes, we are determined to make complete changes and this can be achieved only through a clear division from those that have caused this situation, namely the PDK and its partners.

Mr. Haradinaj, why after your release from The Hague you were willing to cooperate with Thaci, but not now?

I was willing to cooperate so that we would not have to come to this day. In 2012, I offered a way out for Mr. Thaci, so that when this time would come, free elections would be held, where the people would decide, for institutions to be built without pressure or difficulty, in a free and a democratic country, with truly independent institutions. The goal was not to allow the country to reach this state and the goal was for Kosovo to gain time and quality. Put simply, to save the country. Unfortunately, at the time, I did not manage to give him a way out, but now we have decided to give him a way out but with certain damages for the country, because we have witnessed these damages since 2012.

How stable is the LDK-AAK-NISMA coalition?

The LDK, AAK, NISMA and political partners have qualitative votes and broad support for our project. This is a stable and useful project for the country. The coalition has the necessary votes to govern. For example, as far as the vote for the armed forces is concerned, we have two thirds and the qualified two thirds. We have good participation from minority communities and we know the Albanian vote will not be lacking for the Army of Kosovo. We are in a good position.

How much room is there for Vetevendosje in this coalition, especially for Vetevendosje’s conditions about dialogue and privatization?

We are several partners in co-government and if Vetevendosje decides to join us, then it will have to make its own contribution and bring values and principles of governance. However, these cannot be conditions for values and principles that we have decided. There can be no conditions on the principles of a European Kosovo, a Kosovo that is focused on economic development and investments, a Kosovo that wants to have good neighborly relations with neighbors and to accelerate integration processes in NATO, EU and the UN. We believe recognition from Serbia is very important because it would remove all other obstacles and our region would be in a different position then.

Does this mean that you don’t accept any conditions as far as privatization and dialogue with Serbia are concerned?

We don’t follow this mindset and we have no time to lose. Just imagine a stalemate in the economy, this would be disastrous. Stalemates are not good even in relations with neighboring countries. Every country in the region is in a race of accelerating integration process and no one has the luxury of taking breaks. When the time is right, the topic of recognition needs to be addressed between Kosovo and Serbia, we must not remain hostage of mindsets of taking breaks because we will lose both internally and externally.

You definitely believe you will be Prime Minister in this mandate? What kind of changes will you bring?

Yes, I will lead the government based on the trust given to me by the LDK, AAK, NISMA and other political partners. We have identified the priorities of the country. Without rule of law, you cannot have economic development or anything else. Economic development is very important and we have identified over 100 urgent priorities for the first 100 days in government. We have also identified the main pillars of our government. My colleagues and I are lucky to be familiar with governance, we understand these topics, we have followed internal governing developments and budget issues, so that we don’t waste anymore of Kosovo’s time.