Lipjan

Assembly seeks an end to stalemate

The balance of political power in Lipjan Municipal Assembly changed after the October 2002 municipal elections, depriving Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova’s Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) of its majority and throwing it into opposition. The Democratic Party (PDK) took over the presidency of the municipality with support from the Alliance for the Future (AAK) and the Ashkali party (PDAK).

Although this alliance produced a PDK president and an AAK deputy president, the thin coalition majority in the Assembly faced a local administration dominated by the LDK. The result was a seven-month-long political stalemate.

The work of the Municipality suffered, as the assembly was unable to obtain the necessary quorum due to a continued boycott of the sessions by the LDK, which wanted more seats in the Policy and Finance Committee. This difficult situation was overcome only on 3 July after a political compromise was reached at a retreat in Brezovica organised by the OSCE.

But those who thought that the trials of Lipjan Municipal Assembly had come to a happy end were wrong. Tensions resurfaced soon after a productive summer session, during which the Assembly took several important decisions. These included adoption of the 2003 budget and the election of members of three mandatory committees.

This time the problems were compounded by disagreements inside the PDK caucus. Xhevat Olluri, local PDK president as well as President of the Assembly, was ousted from his party posts during party elections in September. Following his removal from all leadership positions, Mr Olluri in November announced his resignation from the PDK and his decision to serve as an independent president of the Assembly.

“I’m ready to accept the support of all the parties, and I’m open to discuss any proposal coming from any members of the assembly, regardless of their political color, as long as I think they can improve the living conditions of the people of Lipjan Municipality,” Mr Olluri announced. He added that he thought every municipal president should become independent on election, so as to be able to work for all the communities.

The vision of the Lipjan assembly president overlaps with the UNMIK and OSCE programme. The head of the municipal OSCE office said that “In Lipjan we tried to bring all players together so that they could overcome their disagreements and find a compromise. … What we are providing is training and support for elected officials in order to empower them to work efficiently and to respond to the needs and concerns of their electorate despite a sometimes tense political reality.”

In another development, the Serb Additional Deputy President of the Assembly voted in favour of a municipal contribution to the Fatmir Limaj Defence Fund. (Fatmir Limaj, a senior official of the PDK, is in The Hague in custody of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.) He explained later that his vote was a ploy to oblige the UNMIK Municipal Representative to suspend implementation of the decision.

Today the political portrait of Lipjan is unique in Kosovo. The municipality has an independent president, the Assembly is hung, and the smaller parties have an influence that far outweighs their size. Meanwhile the municipal administration remains dominated by the LDK.

Alessandra Ronchi