Summary of the Week 78

Even for fans of games without borders, political games sometimes become tiresome. After a long while, people forget both the rules and the very goal of the game. In Kosovo, it’s not unusual for everyone to be a winner in their own game.

We more or less know when the game began, we know the challenges the players have faced, and we know who sets the rules — but at this moment, few seem to know where the finish line actually is.

“The Constitutional Court’s decision is final, and there’s no doubt about that,” says Milica Andric Rakic from the NGO Social Initiative for Kosovo Online. She adds, “That doesn’t mean the political crisis in Kosovo will be resolved.”

A crisis — or political game — can always be prolonged at the will of certain participants. However, analysts note, everyone should know when it’s time to stop.

“I think there’s been enough of these games,” concludes Shkëlzen Maliqi.

If citizens were the judges, the verdict that the game was over would have been delivered long ago. Some foreign judges would likely have ruled the same. Hence, EU Ambassador Aivo Orav appeals:

“Please, form the Assembly! Please, create a government,” Orav urges Kosovo’s politicians.

When pleas and appeals fail, success requires a tougher fight — precisely the kind promised by those whose game rules are set by their voter-neighbors. The result will be seen on October 12.

“The residents can expect a strong fight through the institutions,” promises Spasoje Stefanovic, a candidate for municipal councilor in Vucitrn, just days before the election.

The final stretch of the campaign is anything but a game. The cards have been laid out — though many fear the key trump cards are being saved for the end.

“The goal is always the same,” says Goran Dancetovic, candidate for mayor of Obilic. “In our case, it’s the protection of our interests — the interests of our people.”

The desire to win the game is only natural. Sometimes, however, the goals are defined differently. For some, the lack of fair play counts as the ultimate victory. As for who tampered with the Mitrovica sign in the city center — and why — no one really knows.

“We believe that with this act, the very statute of North Mitrovica was violated,” says Nexhat Ugljanin, president of the Municipal Assembly of that town.

Violated, altered, rewritten, amended — all part of a single pre-election game.

And because of the games we’ve been drawn into against our will, this week we didn’t have time for the other games that this unusual October brought us. Those snowy games will have to wait for another week — when their time truly comes.