Kosovo-based non-governmental organization FOL, presented today statistics regarding court’s performance on addressing corruption cases covering the period between January and June 2017. Jeton Zylfaj, programme manager at FOL, said this period marked an increase of court performance by 120% but that there is still a backlog of cases which the court need to address.
The Government of Kosovo has failed to meet 65 percent of objectives it had set for 2015, said representatives of the Kosovo-based Fol think tank today. Fol expressed concern over the, as it said, poor performance of the government in 2015, particularly as the actions planned for 2015 will have to be transferred to 2016 which will make their implementation even more difficult. In numbers, the government has managed to fulfill 57 out of a total of 160 actions set out in the action plan for 2015.
Unemployment, corruption, poverty remain the main problems in Kosovo whereas the education system is considered to be plagued by nepotism, corruption and negligence, said FOL think tank representatives today during the presentation of their recent poll. According to FOL, this was the first time they conducted a poll on perception of corruption in the field of education. The poll involved 400 respondents from five municipalities in Kosovo, majority of whom said they believed the government was the most corrupt institution.
Head of the Kosovo-based think tank FOL, Petrit Zogaj, said today that the EU rule of law mission (EULEX) has failed in fighting corruption and organised crime in Kosovo. He said that in the seven years since being established, the mission had only taken 47 court decisions in cases of organised crime and corruption. According to FOL, EULEX’s poor performance has increased the mistrust of the people in the justice institutions.
Kosovo-based think tank FOL presented today results of a recent poll on the political preferences of the citizens of Kosovo asking them how they would vote in case of fresh elections. According to the results, the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) would come first with 29 percent of the votes, followed by the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) with 26 percent and Vetevendosje with 14 percent. The poll was carried out in all Kosovo cities and includes respondents from all communities.
On the first anniversary of the Isa Mustafa-led government, FOL think tank published a report on the progress of the government covering the period from January to September of 2015. The report found that by the reporting period, the Government of Kosovo fulfilled only 53 percent of its annual work plan. Fol representatives said the survey monitored the work of 20 government institutions and out of 348 activities or objectives that were planned, 183 have been achieved.
The level of corruption in Kosovo has continued to rise, said Kosovo think tank Fol based on the results of a poll it recently conducted. The most serious problem for the respondents is unemployment, followed by corruption and government’s performance, the poll further found. 42.2% of the people interviewed said they often bribe public officials in exchange for a service. Kosovo prosecutor, Drita Hajdari, said involvement of judges and prosecutors in corruption is highly concerning and appealed to the civil society and media to help fight it.
The FOL Movement published a study report which says that the government of Kosovo headed by Prime Minister Isa Mustafa, has only met one objective in six months, out of 160 planned. FOL also relased a report on non-transparent Ministries, which puts the Foreign Ministry as the most non-transparent. While according to FOL, the most efficient Ministry is the Finance Ministry headed by Avdullah Hoti.
Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga said today in Pristina that ever since she has taken office she has restored the trust of the people in the institution of the President. “My impressions as President, based on institutional experience, as the first constitutional and non-party President, has been to depoliticize and restore the trust of the people,” Jahjaga said during a debate organized by Pristina-based FOL non-governmental organization. Jahjaga said she was not satisfied with the approach of respective institutions in the fight against corruption.
Albin Kurti, the former leader of the Vetevendosje Movement, said during a debate organized by the Pristina-based non-governmental organization FOL [Speak Up], that Kosovo needs a leftist party, “because right-wing parties have been governing Kosovo for 15 years now and the people are forced to flee the country”. “The time has come for a social democratic government,” Kurti added.