Twenty non-governmental organisations have reacted to the decision of the Vetëvendosje Movement to boycott the program format “Debat Pernime” hosted by BIRN and Internews Kosova ahead of the February 9 parliamentary elections in Kosovo.

Jeta Xharra, the director of BIRN Kosovo and host of the TV program ‘Debat Përnime’ on TV Dukagjini, a co-production of BIRN and Internews Kosova, stated at the beginning of the electoral debate on Saturday, January 11, that Vetëvendosje had chosen not to participate because they claimed that oligarchs run the station.

In their reaction, civil society organisations expressed deep concern over the decision made by Vetëvendosje, which decided to boycott the election debates. These TV debates are organised by civil society organisations, including the Balkan Network for Investigative Journalism, BIRN, and Internews Kosova, two internationally recognized and award-winning organizations. BIRN and Internews Kosova fact-checking platform, Krypometri, is a verified signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network, IFCN,  and the European Factchecking Standards Network, EFCSN.

The NGOs pointed out that this team’s programs were excluded from public television after exposing the oligarchs’ monopoly and saving Kosovo’s budget by 14 million euros. 

“Therefore, it is absurd for Vetëvendosje to boycott these shows in the name of protesting against oligarchs,” the statement reads.

According to them, the decision to boycott debates organised by certified fact-checking organisations and reputable investigative journalism entities “harms the public interest and the accurate information of citizens.”

“Political debates led by the Kallxo.com team have provided Kosovo’s voters with a challenge to party programs since 2005, informing citizens impartially, balanced, and independently about the political parties’ offers. In these debates, questions from citizens and civil society have been fully represented. Therefore, the boycott by Vetëvendosje remains incomprehensible and concerning to us,” NGOs said in a joint statement.

Considering that ‘Debat Përnime’ provides an open platform for gender equality and representation of other ethnicities in Kosovo, the organisations assess that “refusing to participate in such initiatives harms women’s space in the media.”

The 20 organisations have called on Vetëvendosje to reverse its decision and allow parliamentary candidates, especially female candidates, to freely take part in debates conducted according to fact-checking standards.

Officials of Vetëvendosje, which has been in power since 2021 and is seeking re-election in the parliamentary elections on February 9, have not publicly responded to inquiries regarding their reasons for not participating in debates on the three main television channels in Kosovo: Klan Kosova, T7, and TV Dukagjini. It remains unclear whether the party will engage in debates on any other channels.

Supporting organisations: Fourth Wave (FoW), Qendra per Zhvillimin e Grupeve Shoqerore – CSGD, Asociacioni i Gazetarëve të Kosovës, Art Polis, KIPRED, Activism Roots, Rrjeti i Grave te Kosoves (RrGK), Pishtaret, Forumi per Iniciativa Qytetare (FIQ), Fondacioni per te Drejtat e Kafsheve, Community Building Mitrovica, Instituti Edutask, Instituti Sekhmet, Keshilli Rinor Kosovar (KYC), YMCA Movement, NGO Voice of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians, Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR), Democracy for Development (D4D) and Toka.