Justina Shiroka-Pula was elected president of the Republic of Kosovo with 81 votes, bringing to an end a lengthy period of institutional uncertainty and political clashes over the country’s head of state.
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The vote took place in the final minutes of the legal deadline, following a prolonged crisis between the ruling party and the opposition. The political confrontation was also linked to the approval of amendments to the Law on the Specialist Chambers of Kosovo.
The election of the new president has raised questions about the political message it conveys, as well as the possibility that this development could open a new phase of institutional stability and political cooperation in Kosovo.
Professor Enver Bytyçi considers this development a victory for Kosovo. He criticized the opposition’s stance during the crisis and said that it was the political compromise over the election of the president that made it possible to unblock the institutions.
In a statement to “Bota sot,” Bytyçi said that, after a lengthy period of tensions, Kosovo had finally managed to elect its head of state.
According to him, the decision came after an “marathon” by the opposition to seize power, following numerous acts of violence that he described as unmotivated and unjustified against parliament, lawmakers and state institutions, as well as extensive discussions and negotiations.
Bytyçi views the election of the president as a victory for Kosovo, which, he said, had fought for decades and centuries for its freedom and statehood. He argued that the opposition blockade ran counter to the sacrifices made by Albanians for statehood and the creation of a state.
The professor recalled that, a few hours before the president’s election, Ramush Haradinaj had told Albanians in Kosovo that “Kurti wants to take Kosovo to new elections.” However, Bytyçi believes that it was Albin Kurti’s tactics that led to the compromise over the election of the head of state.
He said that Kurti’s insistence on linking the approval of the law to the election of the president was the main factor that led to the creation of the institutions. By contrast, according to him, Bedri Hamza and Ramush Haradinaj’s threats to pass the law on Kosovo’s Special Court in The Hague at any cost, outside of a compromise, were detrimental to Kosovo.
Bytyçi stressed that, despite this, Albin Kurti was repeatedly accused of not wanting a new president to be elected and of seeking to return the country to elections.
With the election of Justina Shiroka-Pula, he believes that the institutional crisis has been overcome. He described the new president as a suitable figure for the position, known primarily in academia as chairwoman of the Kosovo Academy of Sciences and Arts, but also as a politician.
Shiroka-Pula served as a minister in Hashim Thaçi’s first government. According to Bytyçi, she is considered a balanced personality with the necessary abilities to lead the state.
The professor described her election as a double success: on the one hand, Kosovo ended the institutional deadlock, while on the other, the person selected for the post was, in his view, a well-chosen candidate. Shiroka-Pula is the third woman to lead the state, after Atifete Jahjaga and Vjosa Osmani.
Bytyçi believes that the new president could play an important role in maintaining the balance among the institutions. He also sees her candidacy as a response to claims that Prime Minister Albin Kurti intended to keep Kosovo in crisis.
According to him, the fact that Kurti proposed a figure such as Justina Shiroka-Pula shows that the prime minister does not seek to take over the institutions and that the accusation that he wanted Kosovo to end up in elections again is unfounded.
“All the masks fell,” Bytyçi declared, claiming that opposition leaders had put their own mask on the prime minister. He described the outcome as a success for Kosovo, but also for the majority.
According to the professor, the opposition tried to present the amendments to the Law on the Specialist Chambers as its achievement. He said that the opposition did everything to sell this as a success, even mobilizing its violent supporters against state institutions.
Bytyçi added that neither Albin Kurti nor the lawmakers from the majority were opposed to approving the law. According to him, the majority only sought to use this process to impose a compromise over the election of the president, because without such an agreement Kosovo would not have had functioning institutions.
The professor believes that the political agreement and the election of Justina Shiroka-Pula give Kosovo a more stable image on the international stage. He said that the country now gains points as a consolidated state.
Bytyçi also mentioned the reaction from Belgrade, arguing that there had been expectations there that Kosovo would become embroiled in a civil war against the state. According to him, Kosovo gained a positive international image and there are no longer any obstacles to the functioning of the state.
He predicts that over the next five years Kosovo will advance the process of state recognition and state-building. According to Bytyçi, this development also explains the disappointment in Belgrade, where it was expected that Kosovo would plunge into anarchy and destabilization. “The state is now the top priority,” he said.
The professor also expressed reservations about the reactions of Tirana’s leaders to the election of the new president. He distinguished between President Bajram Begaj and Prime Minister Edi Rama.
Bytyçi said that Begaj appeared sincere in his congratulatory message, while he voiced doubts about Rama’s position. According to him, if the Albanian prime minister truly wanted what was best for Kosovo, there would not have been four rounds of elections because of the lack of compromise between the majority and the opposition.
He argued that Rama could have acted as he did when he went to Pristina to impose or accelerate the vote on the Specialist Chambers. According to Bytyçi, the prime minister should have gone there as early as December last year and publicly sought the opposition’s vote for a consensus president.
The fact that Rama did not do so, according to the professor, leads him to believe that the Albanian prime minister acted in the opposite direction and worked to prolong the crisis in Kosovo, so that the country would suffer an artificially created crisis for the purposes of Edi Rama’s government.
In conclusion, Enver Bytyçi described the election of the new president as an important moment for Kosovo. He hopes that such an institutional crisis will never be repeated on the country’s path toward building its state and institutions.
“Kosovo achieved its success, and God willing, this ugly chapter will never be repeated,” Bytyçi concluded in comments to “Bota sot.”
