Kosovo Parties Flout Ban on Gatherings Ahead of Election

Kosovo authorities have been accused of double standards for allowing parties competing in the February elections to continue holding big gatherings – while police issue thousands of fines to ordinary people for breaking COVID-19 rules.

Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti during a pre-election meeting. Photo: Official Facebook page of Avdullah Hoti

Kosovo Police fined over 1,300 citizens in the last three days for not respecting government measures against COVID-19 – as political parties continue holding mass gatherings, preparing for the February 14 elections.

A government decision of December 22 prohibited gatherings of more than four people in public squares, parks, public places and recreational centres. The decision prohibited “gatherings in public spaces of all forms”.

While the food sector is among sectors most affected by the government measures, with all shops and eating places closed by 8pm, the head of the Kosovo Association of Gastronomy, Petrit Kllokoqi, on Sunday accused the authorities of “double standards”.

“More than 5,000 fines for gastronomy, no fine for politicians,” Kllokoqi said on social media, about the fines.

“Our association is informed about many fines that have been imposed for tables [in restaurants] of more than five people while we see pictures of hundreds of people side by side in the election campaign, not five but 500,” Kllokoqi added.

He announced that his association would hold an urgent meeting on Tuesday to decide future steps.

Outgoing Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti, who is running for the same position as candidate for his Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, took part in several meetings over the weekend. But on Monday, he said that the “measures in force should be respected”.

“I personally held some meetings – but we tried to respect the measures to the maximum by making sure they are held in halls that meet [health] criteria, and with masks and [people] trying to keep a distance,” Hoti said.

Asked why ordinary citizens are being fined while parties keep holding campaign meetings, Hoti replied: “The law is the same for everyone, without exception. I don’t know if any party has been fined, but the law is the same for everyone.”

The head of the municipal inspectorate in the capital, Pristina, Adonis Tahiri, called the government measures “hypocrisy” and pledged to impose fines up to 2,000 euro on parties holding election meetings during the pandemic.

“Gatherings of people are prohibited under a decision approved by those who are gathering. There is a law on prevention of pandemic, with concrete fines, which was voted on by those who are making speeches at those political gatherings,” Tahiri said on Facebook on Sunday.

Over the weekend, authorities in Kosovo registered 512 new coronavirus cases, 1,259 recoveries and nine COVID-19 related deaths. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 53,776 people have tested positive for the disease, 46,295 have recovered and 1,377 patients have died while 6,140 cases are still active.