Without money, without luxury, without concerts that precede rallies, without artists performing tallava music in political stands (although they have the artists most followed by young people), but with political rallies similar in seriousness to countries in the democratic world, Kosovo is shining as a case of hope in the region.
In our region, elections have long lost their importance. What Tocqueville once defined as their “surprise effect” is due to the hectic state in which society is involved in an electoral process and the fact that the outcome of the elections cannot be predicted in advance, nor can it be changed afterwards. Kosovo, through its example, is proving that it is an exception to the countries of the region, entering the irreversible path of its democratic consolidation.
Let’s take them in turn:
I.
The election campaign of political parties and candidates, as well as the administration of the process in Kosovo, is much less costly than in Albania. The national proportional electoral system, coupled with the transparent administration of the process and the announcement of results at midnight, increase confidence in the process, and contrast significantly with our electoral system fragmented into districts and with deputies elected through two categories.
Lesson number 1: Without mutual trust in the electoral system, it is impossible to achieve a fair electoral process.
Equally important is the lesson that without real control over the money spent by candidates and political parties, there can be no fair competition.
The money we spend on ‘improving technology in the electoral process’ is a make-up that cannot regenerate the withered skin of the current system. It does not replace the lack of mutual political trust in the electoral system.
II.
The protracted crisis with the constitution of new institutions was resolved through political means and the search for democratic legitimacy, and not by unilaterally rewriting the rules of the democratic game. The government did not attempt to lure MPs from the ranks of the opposition parties to create the necessary governing coalition. The government did not impose itself on the opposition with candidates imported by it for any of the institutions originating from the Assembly. The government did not aim for a single moment to equate politics with the market for living things.
Lesson number 2: Democracies function better and survive longer where the Constitution and the law are reinforced by unwritten democratic norms. Two fundamental unwritten norms maintain checks and balances in political and institutional life: (i) mutual tolerance, or the understanding that competing parties accept each other as legitimate rivals; (ii) the idea that politicians should exercise restraint in the exercise of executive functions to prevent the state from being identified with power.
III.
Albin Kurti and LVV declared victory, expressing their willingness to cooperate with the opposition on the challenges facing Kosovo, mainly on the approval of international agreements that require a qualified majority and the election of the president. Lumir Abdixhiku and LDK accepted defeat, bowing to the popular will. No allegations of the use of the state, oligarchy, media and organized crime in the electoral process and political life were reported. It is widely accepted that most television studios and the oligarchy were openly against Albin Kurti and LVV.
Lesson number 3: The electoral system is just one element of the set of norms that guarantee democratic life. If Kosovo reaches such a standard, there is no longer any justification for Albania. Especially now that we are at the negotiating table for EU membership and we aim to be part of the EU by 2030.
To close the inglorious chapter with the organization of democratic life in Albania, the OSCE-ODIHR report on the last parliamentary elections helps us. It would be an unforgivable mistake if we do not treat the report exhaustively, but as the next report. Because it clearly maps the influence of organized crime, the use of state assets, public administration and national media with the status of ‘strategic investor’ in elections and political life.
Without prioritizing and resolutely addressing a genuine political reform related to the functioning of all links of the rule of law, the breakthrough we need to make to join the family of a united Europe will be impossible.
To bring this political reform to life, we need to remember Vaclav Havel’s noble definition of hope. Hope, he said, is ‘an orientation of the soul, an orientation of the heart’. It is ‘an ability to work for something because it is good, not just because it has a chance of succeeding. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something has meaning, regardless of how it turns out’.
With Kosovo as an example in this regard, and with the open window of EU membership, there is now one more motive for us to nurture hope and democratic life in the country.