PRISTINA, Kosovo, May 5, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- The new government in Kosovo has failed so far to live up to its promise of fighting corruption, according to a report published last week by a Pristina-based nongovernmental organization.
The Democratic Party of Kosovo, leading member of the ruling coalition, ran a pre-election campaign on anti-corruption rhetoric that projected now Prime Minister Hasim Thaci as one of the last few clean politicians in Kosovo.
But by the beginning of April, when the Thaci government completed its first 100 days in office, the government had not yet fulfilled its promises, according to the report, "Fighting Corruption With Rhetoric" published by the NGO called Democracy, Anti-Corruption and Dignity.
The report said the government has mostly focused on replacing officials loyal to the previous government with its own, promoting privatization without transparency and damaging the interest of public companies.
The management boards of public companies -- apart from the Public Electricity Company and the Kosovo Trust Agency that oversees privatizations -- have still not been constituted.
In the case of the Public Telecommunication Company, this has affected services for almost a million consumers, the report said. And that has opened up the space for a private telecommunications provider that regulates the telecommunications market "through its influence on the corrupt Telecommunication Regulatory Authority" rather than through a formal managing board.
Indications of a strong nepotistic culture have emerged. Minister for Public Health Alush Gashi approved a list of candidates selected for specialization at the University Hospital in Pristina, ignoring the report of a commission that the selection was done in violation of the law.
"In this list you can find the daughter of Gashi's advisor, Safa Rexhep Boja," Democracy, Anti-Corruption and Dignity member Blerton Ajeti said. "You can also find children of various directors of departments, advisers and medical staff within the Ministry of Health and the University Hospital."
The government's failure to stand up to its promises comes at a time when corruption is killing the economy of Kosovo. Transparency International's 2007 Global Corruption Barometer ranked Kosovo as the fourth most corrupt country, after Cameroon, Cambodia and Albania.
According to Democracy, Anti-Corruption and Dignity, close to half of Kosovo's population of 2 million live around the poverty limit, and another 18 percent live in extreme poverty. Unemployment is at least 46 percent, and the balance of trade is severely negative. According to government statistics, exports and imports for February 2008 amounted respectively to 14.1 million euros and 127.5 million euros.
The people seem not to want to fight corruption either. "There is a very strong survivalist culture in Kosovo that creates a social solidarity of not exposing issues, and accepting corruption and the informal market," said a customs officer from the French United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) who has been stationed in the region for more than five years.
"Corruption has been institutionalized by failing to tame organized crime associated with veterans of the Kosovo Liberation Army who dominate local politics, and by the involvement of international personnel," the customs official said, on condition of anonymity.
"The best example is Steven Schook [former deputy head of UNMIK], who flew away in the middle of the night while he was under investigation. He was involved in overpricing the construction of the Kosovo C electricity plant," the official said.
Schook, a retired U.S. army general, left Kosovo suddenly last December while he was undergoing internal investigation. He left after being informed that his contract with UNMIK would not be renewed in 2008, meaning he would lose the diplomatic immunity granted to UNMIK staff.
The Kosovo C project, the biggest and most expensive since the international community arrived in 1999, is still pending, though it could become a valuable source of income for the region. The project opens up access to Kosovo's lignite reserves, the richest in Europe.
The Democratic Party of Kosovo, leading member of the ruling coalition, ran a pre-election campaign on anti-corruption rhetoric that projected now Prime Minister Hasim Thaci as one of the last few clean politicians in Kosovo.
But by the beginning of April, when the Thaci government completed its first 100 days in office, the government had not yet fulfilled its promises, according to the report, "Fighting Corruption With Rhetoric" published by the NGO called Democracy, Anti-Corruption and Dignity.
The report said the government has mostly focused on replacing officials loyal to the previous government with its own, promoting privatization without transparency and damaging the interest of public companies.
The management boards of public companies -- apart from the Public Electricity Company and the Kosovo Trust Agency that oversees privatizations -- have still not been constituted.
In the case of the Public Telecommunication Company, this has affected services for almost a million consumers, the report said. And that has opened up the space for a private telecommunications provider that regulates the telecommunications market "through its influence on the corrupt Telecommunication Regulatory Authority" rather than through a formal managing board.
Indications of a strong nepotistic culture have emerged. Minister for Public Health Alush Gashi approved a list of candidates selected for specialization at the University Hospital in Pristina, ignoring the report of a commission that the selection was done in violation of the law.
"In this list you can find the daughter of Gashi's advisor, Safa Rexhep Boja," Democracy, Anti-Corruption and Dignity member Blerton Ajeti said. "You can also find children of various directors of departments, advisers and medical staff within the Ministry of Health and the University Hospital."
The government's failure to stand up to its promises comes at a time when corruption is killing the economy of Kosovo. Transparency International's 2007 Global Corruption Barometer ranked Kosovo as the fourth most corrupt country, after Cameroon, Cambodia and Albania.
According to Democracy, Anti-Corruption and Dignity, close to half of Kosovo's population of 2 million live around the poverty limit, and another 18 percent live in extreme poverty. Unemployment is at least 46 percent, and the balance of trade is severely negative. According to government statistics, exports and imports for February 2008 amounted respectively to 14.1 million euros and 127.5 million euros.
The people seem not to want to fight corruption either. "There is a very strong survivalist culture in Kosovo that creates a social solidarity of not exposing issues, and accepting corruption and the informal market," said a customs officer from the French United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) who has been stationed in the region for more than five years.
"Corruption has been institutionalized by failing to tame organized crime associated with veterans of the Kosovo Liberation Army who dominate local politics, and by the involvement of international personnel," the customs official said, on condition of anonymity.
"The best example is Steven Schook [former deputy head of UNMIK], who flew away in the middle of the night while he was under investigation. He was involved in overpricing the construction of the Kosovo C electricity plant," the official said.
Schook, a retired U.S. army general, left Kosovo suddenly last December while he was undergoing internal investigation. He left after being informed that his contract with UNMIK would not be renewed in 2008, meaning he would lose the diplomatic immunity granted to UNMIK staff.
The Kosovo C project, the biggest and most expensive since the international community arrived in 1999, is still pending, though it could become a valuable source of income for the region. The project opens up access to Kosovo's lignite reserves, the richest in Europe.
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