As Kosovo prepares for its upcoming parliamentary elections, the opposition parties are positioning themselves as agents of change, promising a renewed focus on the justice system, transparency, and governance, while the ruling party has not made its programme public, having decided to boycott electoral debates in three main broadcasters.
Kosovo political parties have prioritised reforms in the judiciary, mainly deriving from the EU 2024 Kosovo Progress Report, which concluded that court administration should be reformed and prosecution management capacity strengthened. According to the report, Kosovo must reduce “the backlog of cases based on a clear action plan with audits and internal control, and implement the IT strategy” as well as increase cooperation between the police and prosecution to “ensure solid criminal investigations, improve the quality of indictments and ensure effective criminal procedures, including cases of gender-based violence”.
Ahead of Kosovo’s February 9 parliamentary elections, parliamentary opposition parties told BIRN and Internews Kosova TV Programme ‘Debat Përnime’ that they aim to remove political influence from justice processes, complete the vetting process, and digitalise the system to avoid bureaucratic prolonged procedures.
Officials of Vetëvendosje, which has been in power since 2021 and is seeking re-election at parliamentary polls on February 9, have not publicly responded to queries on reasons for not participating in the debates on the three main channels in the country: Klan Kosova, T7, and TV Dukagjini.
Vetëvendosje officials are participating in debates in KTV and in the public broadcaster Radio Television of Kosovo, RTK. In January 2023, Kallxo.com reported that the board of directors of RTK approved Rilind Gërvalla as the director of Albanian language channels RTK 1, 3, and 4. Gërvalla is a Vetëvendosje donor, according to the 2020 annual financial report and has also been seen in photographs with members of this party and at the meetings of the Vetëvendosje General Council in 2020.
Jeta Xharra, the director of BIRN Kosovo, who hosts the TV programme ‘Debat Përnime’ on TV Dukagjini, a co-production of BIRN and Internews Kosova, said at the start of her electoral debate programme on Saturday, January 11, that Vetëvendosje had decided not to participate because it claimed the station was run by oligarchs.
She said that Vetëvendosje was “following the old tradition of parties that were voluble and accessible while in opposition yet became closed-off and unaccountable inside the plush offices of power.”
Opposition parties, the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, and Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, AAK, unveiled their platforms aimed at addressing long-standing issues in the justice system with an emphasis in the Vetting Process, tackling corruption, and resolving wartime legacies.
Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, AAK
AAK, led by former PM Ramush Haradinaj, has placed NATO membership and deep reforms in justice and agriculture at the forefront of its platform.
Besnik Tahiri, an MP candidate of AAK and currently the head of its parliamentary group, told Debat Përnime, on January 11, that it is “extremely important [to] strengthen and reform the two main pillars of the justice system, which are the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council and the Judicial Council [as the] first element of accountability in the rule of law, is extremely important.”
AAK advocates for removing the justice system’s financial dependence on the government and Assembly by ensuring that judicial and prosecutorial councils determine budget allocations.
MP candidates also affirmed the party’s support regarding the vetting process in the justice system insisting on adhering to the recommendations of the Venice Commission.
“The less politics interferes with the prosecution and courts, the better. Our goal is for neither the Government nor the Assembly to meddle with the justice system or with specific judges and prosecutors,” Arton Demhasaj, another AAK MP candidate stated.
In December 2023 the Kosovo Constitutional Court ruled that amendments establishing a vetting process do not diminish fundamental rights and freedoms as guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo. The amendments were made by an ad hoc parliamentary committee based on a Venice Commission’s opinion on this matter, emphasising three amendments related to this process.
Justice minister Albulena Haxhiu said at the time that the Constitutional Court has given the green light for vetting high-level judges and prosecutors through an external mechanism.
The concept document for developing a vetting process Kosovo’s justice system was approved in 2021. The Venice Commission recommended the verification of high-level positions in the judiciary and prosecution.
Following the Venice Commission’s opinion, the process moved in two directions: vetting for high-level positions and legal reform or regular vetting for all judges and prosecutors.
According to MP Tahiri, reforms should ensure impartiality, avoiding political interference in the vetting process. Tahiri emphasised that the “Vetting mechanism must not be used to target individuals without evidence or for political purposes.”
Addressing controversies surrounding Chief Prosecutor Blerim Isufaj, who was not decreed by the president Vjosa Osmani, Tahiri argued that decisions on high-ranking judicial appointments should lie with the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council, not with government officials.
Since April 2020, the position of Chief State Prosecutor in Kosovo has been held by an acting chief prosecutor.
Tahiri also criticised what he described as ongoing public attacks on judicial institutions by Prime Minister Albin Kurti and other governmental officials and MPs from Vetëvendosje, calling for respect for institutional independence.
PM Kurti recently explained that he had not responded to a call to testify in a case by the special prosecution. On December 29, 2024, Kurti accused Isufaj, who is the chief prosecutor of the special prosecution, for aiming to make international headlines by having Kurti questioned at the special prosecution office.
Isufaj, however, avoided giving a direct answer to Kurti’s statement, saying that “everyone is equal before the law.”
Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK
LDK aims to secure a mandate positioning its leader Lumir Abdixhiku to transform Kosovo into a country where justice operates independently of political interference. Central to this vision is the digitisation of the justice system and the application of artificial intelligence, AI, to address delays in judicial processes.
MP candidates told ‘Debat Përnime’, on January 12, that delays in court cases often stem from bureaucratic inefficiencies, which enable manipulation of the system.
Doarsa Kica-Xhelili, a deputy chair of LDK, who joined the party in September 2022 leaving President Osmani’s political initiative “Guxo”, an ally of Vetëvendosje, said that inefficiencies currently cause court hearings that should last 30 minutes to extend to an hour and a half or more.
Shkëmb Manaj, another LDK MP candidate, added that increasing salaries for prosecutors and judges is essential to enhancing their motivation and reducing chances for corruption.
He explained that LDK pledges to raise the base salary coefficient by 150 euros and restore previous salary levels that were reduced by the current government.
The Law on Salaries in the Public Sector was adopted on December 22, 2022.
The coefficient value was set to be 105 euros for 2023 and 110 for 2024. The approval of the salary coefficient reduced salaries in the judicial system. The new Salary Law reduces the salaries from 3,450 euros previously received by the Chief State Prosecutor and the President of the Supreme Court, to 1,785 euros, or 1,665 euros less.
In 2023 the law on salaries was sent to constitutional court by the ombudsperson to evaluate its validity.
Kosovo’s justice system struggles to address war crimes effectively due to a lack of resources. Only three prosecutors and about 35 investigative police officers handle these sensitive cases.
Shkemb Manaj pledged to expand the team to include 10-15 prosecutors and create a national strategy with a five-year action plan to resolve war crimes cases.
LDK approach involves amending the constitution to enable comprehensive Vetting, starting with judicial councils and extending to systematic integrity checks for judges and prosecutors every five years.
Kica-Xhelili argued that waiting for Serb minority support in parliament to proceed with vetting is unsustainable, suggesting alternative measures to move forward.
Regarding the appointment of the Chief Prosecutor of the Special Prosecutor’s Office, Doarsa Kica- Xhelili also pointed out that “the fact that there is admiration for questioning political figures about the Chief Prosecutor highlights the problematic state of justice in Kosovo today.”
She added, “Politics should keep its hands off the Chief Prosecutor, as those in charge of the institution may be the ones investigating us tomorrow.”
Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK
PDK, another opposition party, has its sights set on reforms to the justice system and addressing wartime legacies. Their prime ministerial candidate, Bedri Hamza, was chosen based on his experience as mayor of South Mitrovica and former Minister of Finance.
On January 13, in ‘Debat Përnime’, PDK MP candidate Përparim Gruda proposed increasing the number of prosecutors and support staff and also increasing international cooperation through research and conferences on criminal justice.
Gruda also announced plans to challenge narratives surrounding Kosovo’s war history. He proposed writing to Human Rights Watch to retract and apologise for a report alleging crimes by the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA, asserting its widespread negative influence on perceptions of Kosovo.
“A Human Rights Watch report has circulated around the world about the supposed crimes of the KLA, which I have encountered in thousands of scientific papers, and in the end, the Director of that project, when he went to the Special Court to testify, said: ‘Yes, it’s true that I didn’t investigate on the ground, but I wrote it that way,” he added.
PDK MP candidates committed to vetting and reforming the judiciary, promising to adopt a national strategy for war crimes and establish an independent institute with its own budget.
Gruda added that PDKs goal is also the full implementation of the vetting process, applying the recommendations of the Venice Commission.
“We will review the recommendations of the Venice Commission and discuss them with our international friends who can help us.”
Another MP candidate, Betim Gjoshi, pledged that they will offer all possibilities to Justice including a sufficient budget and competence.
“We have learned a lot from the mistakes with the law and we know its value, we have received criticism from the media and civil society with sportsmanship and we have reflected on it,” he stated.
In relation to the State Prosecutor issue, Gruda stated that no law grants the Government a role in selecting the Chief Prosecutor, and “there should be no role even if they are part of the Government.”