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01 04 2010 Life in Kosovo broadcast an exclusive debate about the government reshuffle.
The questions covered included: What is the purpose of the reshuffle? What are the reasons being given? Are ministers being discharged based on their performance? Will the newly appointed ministers perform better? Why didn’t the expected discharge of ministers for corruption take place?
The following guests joined host Jeta Xharra in the studio:
Hajredin Kuçi, Kosovo’s deputy prime minister;
Edita Tahiri, from the Democratic Alternative of Kosovo, and a newly-appointed minister for public administration
Valton Beqiri, former minister of culture, youth and sports
Melihate Termkolli, from the Democratic Alliance of Kosovo
Artan Haraçia, journalist
Jeta Xharra started the debate by asking whether Deputy Prime Minister Hajredin Kuçi had been saved from the reshuffle. In response, he claimed that this was not the right way to look at the issue.
“It is a necessary process, which … allows our government to most effectively meet new challenges and engagements,” he said.
“[The reshuffle] is natural and expected, even though it has never happened in Kosovo before due to the lack of political authority.”
Asked whether it was part of a war against corruption, he said “none of those who have been removed from their positions are accused of corruption. This was not done to punish corruption.”
Former Minister of Youth, Culture and Sports Valton Beqiri said that the reshuffle was part of a political deal. He said that he had met with the prime minister, and he had announced the changes “with great regret”.
Mr Beqiri believes that “by the end of this year we will see the fruits of the change, and progress will be seen if its fruits will be long-term and liked by citizens.”
Mr Kuqi insisted that the changes should be seen as replacements, not dismissals. Further, he claimed that the prime minister would give adequate explanations for the changes.
Minister for Public Administration Edita Tahiri explained that her education and twenty years of experience in politics and management made her appropriate for her new position. “I have adequate qualifications [for this job], even though the public sees me as a minister of foreign affairs,” she said.
“What is happening today, this big, courageous and painful step of reforms can be frustrating, but it is opening a new chapter in our government’s performance,” Ms Tahiri added.
Asked whether she sees the changes as a success, Melihate Termkollie from the LDK said that “our government imposes its agenda on the citizens and not vice versa; rather, the citizens are not at all on the government’s agenda”. Her repeated question throughout the debate was why ministers accused of
corruption have not been dismissed.
To this, Mr Kuçi answered that the reshuffle was aimed at achieving better government performance. “It’s not the government who should deal with corrupt ministers, but courts with accusations and evidence,” said Kuçi.
“This is the most effective government [Kosovo] has ever had. We shouldn’t be afraid of changes he said, since these are not people who don’t deserve their new seats.”
Artan Haraçia, a journalist, entered the debate by saying that Kosovo’s citizens are the ones who least understand what has been going on. “How could it be possible that a minister is good, but is dismissed because an even better one is needed?” he asked.
The debate then moved on to the budgets given to the ministries, with Ms Xharra asking why the ministry of transport received huge amounts of government money, while the ministry of heath did not. Mr Kuçi answered by saying: “Huge investments are being made in transport, [an increase of] 600%.
It is a mistake to measure the power of a minister by the budget they receive. Vital sectors of society deserve great attention. I am sure that at the end of this government, there will be great improvements in Kosovo.”
After further accusations of serious corruption in the government, Ms Termkollie was asked what concrete reforms she would make.
She said that, as a graduate from Harvard’s Wilson College, she would apply all the procedures necessary to ensure her ministry would look like one in a developed country, where fighting corruption is taken seriously.
She concluded by saying that “we have to work hard to change the current political mentality towards corruption.”
Other sections
In the ‘Justice in Kosovo’ section, researcher Isa Gacaferi looked into how those charged with crimes are not being detained before their trial. An investigative report by journalist Edona Musa, who explained how unlicensed pharmacies operate in Kosovo, was also broadcast.
Life in Kosovo is a co-production between Kosovo Public Television, RTK and theBalkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN. It is broadcast every Thursday,starting at 20:20.
At the beginning of 2010 BIRN network published Digging Deeper - A Guide for Investigative Journalists in the Balkans, written in cooperation with Sheila Coronel, Director of the Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism and professor of professional practice at Columbia University, New York.
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