When Kurti met Navalny

Albin Kurti ban from 14 February elections is no isolated act. Latest political and legal plot comes in midst of continuing machinations that have successfully kept Albin Kurti away from power. In Kosovo there is no Putin, but there are many Trump wannabes. That is why Freedom House and Transparency International were obliged to conclude that Kosovo today looks much more like Russia and Belarus and much less like Slovenia and Estonia. 

Alexei Navalny and Albin Kurti share many commonalities. Both are young democratic activists turned politicians, with anti-corruption credo and pro-Western views. Both have proved to be courageous and skilled at organizing mass demonstrations. Both are seen as grassroot politicians that understand and represent general population sentiments and feelings. Navalny is a national symbol in fight against "party of crooks and thieves", just like Kurti is symbol of a country liberation from the “state capture”. Both have been arrested and jailed for their political activism.

And from this week they will be sharing one additional commonality - both are being barred from running in election.

How did Kosovo a small Western-loving country come to this point? Well, just like in any captured state - it did not happen overnight. It took consistent political will over time to degenerate state institutions and democratic processes, subjugate rule of law institutions, weaken civil society and cripple media independence. This certainly sounds familiar and will goosebump citizens of Russia, Belarus, Serbia and Hungary.

Putin, Lukashenko or Vucic did not build consolidated autocratic regimes overnight. Everything started with small “legal” and “procedural” changes that one by one took swing at foundations of civil and democratic life.

Just like in Kurti case, in 2018 Russia Presidential elections Putin did not take any dramatic action to ensure that Navalny is barred from elections. Instead, he insisted only that “law” and “procedures” are respected. That was enough to set in motion Frankensteinan state institutions armed with appropriated “laws” and “procedures” that culminated in puppet Central Election Commission to bar Navalny from elections on dubious grounds. Appeal to Supreme Court faced the same fate.

Two years later in Belarus Presidential elections, Lukashenko deployed same tactics. Belarus Central Election Commission citing the need to respect “law” and “procedures”, refused on dubious grounds to certify for elections two opposition candidates: Tsepkalo dhe Babaryka. They tried their luck with the Supreme Court appeal but to no avail. When opposition supporters organized demonstrations against the decision they were arrested for the violation of – right, you got it – “law” and “procedures”. Similarly, last year in Serbia when opposition demanded that elections are postponed, President Vucic refused insisting that “constitution” and “laws” must be respected. Hence, today Vucic virtually controls all state institutions and entire national Assembly, without any members from the opposition parties.

As you can see a pattern is emerging here – once autocratic leaders gain power, they will use that power to demolish foundations of democratic and civic life through constitutional and legal machinations. In doing so they will bend the rules of the game in their favor, and they will always be smart about it and ensure that it is done border-line legally. Phenomenon has become so widespread that scholars have even coined a name for it: “autocratic legalism”.

Back in Pristina we are seeing this play right in front of our eyes. In a series of Kafkaesque institutional steps and legal interpretations, Constitutional Court basically subverted democracy and decided that administrative law on organizing elections supersede country constitution. Following this “original sin” that transformed political plots into legal realities all other state institutions were deployed to ensure that “law” and “procedure” is respected and Kurti barred from the ballot.

And this is no isolated act. Latest political and legal plot comes in midst of continuing machinations that have successfully kept Albin Kurti away from power. In Kosovo there is no Putin, but there are many Trump wannabes.

Kosovo has been ruled by two political parties for more than a decade, respectively Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK). Despite the fact that these two parties were at the beginning at heinous relation they quickly developed an understanding that allowed them to rotate and share power over all state matters. Financial resources were shared, appointments to state institutions were coordinated, decisions on key state assets were consulted and arranged consensually. Simply put there were more things that united them, then brough them apart. This process of state capture was done diligently, slowly and cautiously. And most importantly it was done legally.

These realities have obliged both Freedom House and Transparency International to conclude that Kosovo today looks much more like Russia and Belarus and much less like Slovenia and Estonia.

Kosovo citizens might soon find themselves in José Saramago fictional novel “Seeing” which turned realities of so many peoples around the world into beautiful piece of literature. In the novel Saramago describes elections where 83% of citizens voted with blank ballot. Their vote was a scream for freedom, justice and prosperity and by the same token protest against rotten political elite. Echoing sentiment of characters in Saramago novel, 58% of youth in Kosovo responded in UNDP Public Pulse that they will likely, or most likely, leave the country in the next three years.

Today Albin Kurti represents practically the only opposition in the country, since all other political parties have for quite some time openly united in keeping Kurti away from power. Threat that Kurti represents for political clans that have omnipotently ruled the country is real. During last year early local elections in city of Podujevë, Kurti party won by a landslide and thus flipped a 20 years old LDK bastion. Recent public polls project similar result on a national level. In this light, holding national elections that ban the participation of the leader of the sole opposition party would be appalling. Well, appalling and understandable - desperate politicians resort to desperate tactics.

It is difficult to predict what will happen next. Kurti just like Navalny and Belarus opposition, after being barred by Central Election Commission, tried his luck with Supreme Court but to no avail. However, beyond 14 February elections, recent development in Kosovo are another red flag for the state of our democratic society.

Today Putin can easily arrest Navalny and 2,000 protesters, just like Lukashenko can build concentration camps for Belarus opposition. Easily because they are merely respecting “laws” and “procedures”. This is now a new reality in Moscow and Minsk. Democracies do not collapse overnight and by a single act, but through countless little steps that slowly makes us acceptable of new, but restrictive, realities. Realities based on “law” and “procedure”. These small and little steps in their entirety give rise to a society where citizens and opposition are deprived of all political and legal tools to fight against what we have created – a democratic monster. A place where your democratic rights are recognized in theory, but there are no practical and legal means through which they can be materialized. To put it differently, state is always on the right side of the law. Citizens find themselves on the other.

Demush Shasha is Executive Director at EPIK.