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Kosovo Hopes Raised by New Electoral System

19 09 2007  Giving Kosovars the chance to vote for individual candidates in the forthcoming polls has prompted prominent figures to stand - and may result in higher turn-out.

By Krenar Gashi in Pristina

Halil Matoshi smiles while shutting down his computer on his last day at work at “Express” daily in Pristina. “I’m running for election as an MP”, he says with a sense of pride.

Matoshi, a well-known Kosovo journalist, resigned from his post as the newspaper’s editor in order to join the electoral list of the reformist ORA party, led by another former journalist, Veton Surroi.

“I’m leaving a job where I feel safe, and I’m entering something unknown to me, simply because the time has come for us to contribute directly to Kosovo’s future”, he explains.

Preparation for the forthcoming parliamentary and municipal elections in Kosovo, scheduled to take place on November 17, have got off to a smooth start.

While many believe there will not be enough time for elections to be organised properly, Kosovars have already noticed new, positive trends.

“It looks like these elections will be different. I can already see some kind of new spirit developing”, says Shqipe Neziri, a young student from Pristina. “Candidates are more focused on grass-roots issues now that they cannot run for election simply by promising independence for Kosovo”, she adds.

The forthcoming elections will be taking place during the international community’s latest efforts to resolve Kosovo’s long-term status. A fresh round of negotiations is expected to be concluded by December 10, and most Kosovars expect their long-sought independence will follow soon.

Political parties have already submitted their lists of candidates to the Central Election Committee, which include many new names. The voting lists will be open, and for the first time the electorate will be able to vote for up to ten individual candidates - though in each case only within one political party - for 100 (out of the 120) seats in the new assembly.

That will introduce an element of personal choice in what remains a proportional system. But previous elections were fought on the basis of so-called closed lists so that citizens could not vote for individual candidates, only for a political party.

Four elections, two for the local authorities and another two for the assembly, have been held in Kosovo since 1999, when NATO’s military intervention forced the Serb authorities to withdraw from the territory and a UN administration was installed.

Less than 50 per cent of voters cast their ballots in the last elections in 2004. The old voting system is believed to have been one of the reasons for the low turn-out.

Instituting an electoral system with open lists has encouraged political parties to nominate new, often popular figures to stand in the elections.

Besides Matoshi, ORA has recruited the prominent political analyst, Shkelzen Maliqi, and the famous actor, Enver Petrovci.

Other parties have also brought in fresh blood. Vlora Citaku, spokeswoman of Kosovo’s main opposition Democratic Party, PDK, has told Balkan Insight that “there are many new names on the PDK’s lists”.

Citaku argues the open-list system provides greater democratic choice. Her counterpart from Kosovo’s governing Democratic League, LDK, Vehbi Miftari agrees.

“This system stimulates an intensive dialogue between candidates and citizens because at the end of the day the candidates will be voted on directly”, Miftari says.

The LDK’s junior partner, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, AAK, is also finalising its preparations for the elections. “We have updated our lists with many new names, mostly western-educated people”, says Besnik Tahiri, AAK spokesperson.

Tahiri sounds an optimistic note about the likely impact of the changes to the electoral arrangements. "The new system with open lists will increase the number of the voters", he says.

However, some observers are waiting to see what the new ballot papers will look like, because adding the names of individual candidates may make the voting process more complex this time round.

While many candidates are running for the first time, some more experienced politicians, including Prime Minister Agim Ceku, have decided not to contest the elections.

“Kosovo’s final status remains my priority and the priority of Kosovo citizens”, Ceku said in an interview for BIRN’s “Life in Kosovo” TV show.

“I am committed to securing Kosovo’s statehood, not to staying in power” he said reaffirming his decision not to run in the elections.

Matoshi is among the new breed of candidates who are not satisfied with the work of current institutions.

“We need to bring power back to the parliament”, he says, dressed formally in a smart suit with a new look that is something of a shock for his journalist colleagues. “The outgoing parliament has been invisible and mute”, he adds.

Some of the candidates have already entered the spirit of the election race with relish, although the official campaign is not due to start until the middle of October.

At the municipal level, where the electorate will vote directly for mayors for the first time, candidates are not hiding either their ambition or irony.

In their first interviews after they received their parties’ nominations, some of the candidates for the mayor of Pristina, Kosovo’s largest municipality, already bared their teeth.

“Who is this Genc Meraku?” asked Shefki Gashi, Pristina’s experienced current deputy mayor and candidate of the Democratic League of Dardania about one of his rivals, who as an economist, is a newcomer to politics.

For his part, Meraku, in an interview for “Express”, said that he had no respect for Gashi – other than on account of his age.

Talking to Balkan Insight, Gashi dismissed suggestions that the atmosphere was particularly tense. “This kind of thing happens in every country before the elections”, he said. “I happen to think that the campaign is going very smoothly here”.

Representing the new generation of politicians, Matoshi makes clear he is feeling less relaxed, particularly when it comes to dealing with long-standing problems.

“Prishtina is associated with poverty, dirt and crime”, says Matoshi, criticising the current government for not being able to make the city look like a real capital.

“I live in a village near Pristina. Every day I travel by public transport. I will be still using public transport, if I get elected”, Matoshi says, with a calculated stab at many politicians who, according to him, “cannot be seen because they are hidden in their expensive cars and surrounded by many bodyguards”.

Matoshi’s chances of getting elected - and living up to his pledge -are likely to be increased under the new system which favours well-known candidates. If the open lists encourage greater participation, then Kosovo’s democracy will also reap the benefits.

Krenar Gashi is BIRN Kosovo Editor. Balkan Insight is BIRN’s online publication.