Technocratic government as a way out of the crisis – Why is it difficult to achieve?

Prime Minister–designate Glauk Konjufca is running out of time before the deadline by which he must present his cabinet to the Assembly. Among the proposals on how Konjufca could guide Kosovo out of the current crisis is the idea of a non-partisan, technocratic government composed of experts and entrusted with a time-limited mandate. Although such governments are theoretically possible, interlocutors of Kosovo Online point out that several obstacles stand in the way—chief among them the deep mistrust between the opposition and Self-Determination.

Written by: Dusica Radeka Djordjevic
The idea of a technocratic government was put forward by Faton Bislimi, former MP of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and a member of the Board of the Albanian American Civic League.
“If Konjufca truly wishes to serve Kosovo, he must offer the Assembly a non-partisan government made up of professional, honest, and nationally proven individuals,” Bislimi said.
According to his proposal, such a team would have a clear mandate of several months to carry out the most important tasks until spring, when early elections could be held.
There was already an indication that Self-Determination had been willing to entrust certain ministries to non-partisan figures when Albin Kurti, as prime minister-designate, presented his cabinet and proposed actor Fatmir Spahiu as Minister of Culture and Tourism. However, the much larger question is whether the party would be open to the idea of having non-party figures lead all ministries.
“At this moment, it seems absolutely impossible to me, especially given the ego and self-confidence of Albin Kurti,” Miloš Pavkovic, Director of Strategy at the Centre for European Policy in Belgrade, told Kosovo Online.
In his assessment, a cabinet composed of expert ministers without political appointees, led by the designated prime minister Glauk Konjufca, could provide a way out of the political crisis — but the chances of such an outcome are slim.

“It does not appear that the opposition is ready to support such a government either. I believe there would always be doubts — who selects the experts, who decides whether someone is an expert or not, how the list of ministers would be agreed upon… There is a lot of room for disagreements between the opposition parties and Self-Determination,” Pavkovic explained.
If one considers that the opposition parties were unable to reach an agreement on forming a government even though they had the necessary numbers on paper, he adds, then the chances of them voting for a technocratic cabinet are even smaller.
Pavkovic notes that technocratic governments are possible in theory, but very rarely materialize in practice.
“Even when they do happen, they are often more of a PR exercise, and in essence very few governments are truly technocratic. Such a solution may be presented as a way out of the political crisis — a government with a limited mandate — yet I believe political parties would not be willing to vote for it, regardless of what they publicly claim,” he concludes.

Political science professor Nexhmedin Spahiu points to another difficulty in establishing a technocratic government: Kosovo’s society is polarized and internally contradictory, and people from civil society or intellectual circles are, as he puts it, “still politically colored.”
“The opposition could accept Konjufca as one of the most acceptable figures from Self-Determination. But if he were to propose ministers from civil society or among intellectuals, it would nevertheless be difficult for such a government to secure the necessary votes in parliament, because everyone is ‘colored’ in one way or another. It is very hard to find people acceptable to all parties,” Spahiu told Kosovo Online.

It is also unlikely, according to Aleksandar Sljuka of the NGO New Social Initiative, that the idea of a non-partisan government led by Glauk Konjufca could take hold. He stresses that there is deep mistrust between the opposition and Self-Determination due to everything that has happened over the past four years.
Sljuka told Kosovo Online that the opposition would doubt whether the experts in such a government would act independently of Self-Determination. The “experts” could exist only on paper, he argues, and if Self-Determination held a decisive role and if Konjufca continued pulling all the strings as prime minister, the opposition would not accept such a solution.
“There is also the question of who these experts would be. I am not saying there are no experts who could act independently, but at this moment it is difficult for the opposition to believe in that. They would probably have to see the list of proposed individuals — perhaps even propose some themselves — in order to trust the process and vote for such a government. For now, I have not seen any such developments, and I think it is unlikely that this idea will take root,” he said.

The main issue in such a scenario, in his view, is the question of who would control such a government, especially given that Self-Determination has, over the past four years, made Kosovo a polarized society through its confrontations with all critically inclined actors.
“I do not believe they would relinquish control to anyone, even if it were a technocratic government. People will always look with suspicion at what their role is and how they influence such a government. Considering everything that has happened recently and the paralysis within the Assembly, it is unlikely that we will see such a development at this time,” Sljuka concluded.
Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani granted the mandate to form the new government to Glauk Konjufca — former Speaker of the Assembly and close associate of Albin Kurti — on 4 November, starting the 15-day deadline for Konjufca to present his cabinet and program before the Kosovo Assembly and request a vote of confidence. The last day on which the session can be held is Wednesday.
Before Konjufca, the first candidate of the Self-Determination Movement for prime minister was Albin Kurti, who on 26 October failed to secure enough votes in the Assembly to become prime minister of Kosovo for a third time.