The appointments of three deputy ministers yesterday by the acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti have provoked harsh criticism from the former opposition parties.
Although in office, Prime Minister Kurti on Friday appointed three deputy ministers: Ali Dula as deputy minister in the Ministry of Regional Development, Agon Batusha in the Ministry of Local Government Administration and Hysni Mehanaj in the Ministry of Finance.
The decisions prompted immediate reactions from former opposition parties on Saturday, which they criticized as unnecessary and inappropriate at a time when the country is heading for elections.
The General Secretary of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Vlora Çitaku, has accused Kurti of abusive behavior towards the institutions, saying that he is acting as if the state were private property.
“In the universe of Albin Kurti, the Assembly has not been dissolved and the Government is not in office. He continues to appoint deputy ministers, open competitions for high positions and make appointments and dismissals as if nothing happened. This is not institutional functioning, but an abusive mentality towards the state”, wrote Çitaku.
Harsh criticism was also addressed by Hykmete Bajrami from the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), who accused Kurti of appointing deputy ministers unnecessarily, just for financial benefits.
“When a government is resigning, ministers have limited powers. In this situation, appointments are made not for work, but to receive salaries from the budget without doing anything”, declared Bajrami, describing these actions as “extortion of the budget” and “abuse of official position”.
According to her, in addition to the financial cost, the damage is also in the standards that are being set, treating the state as a tool for party rewards.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), Ramush Haradinaj, has expressed his critical position, describing the appointments as unnecessary and inappropriate at this stage.
“By law, I don’t know that it is bad, but it is improper and unnecessary. There are only about 40 days until the elections and these actions do not look good”, said Haradinaj.
He added that in this period, the Government should focus on fulfilling the existing tasks and not on new appointments.
Kosovo will hold new parliamentary elections on June 7. It is the fifth time in 16 months that citizens will go out to vote, if the two rounds of local elections are also counted.
