The Prime Minister's (PM's) speech at the constitutive session does not give much hope that we will begin to reduce the development gap with advanced economies. Of course, a more complete critique can be made after analyzing the government program.
Fadil Sahiti
The Prime Minister promised a lot. Justice reform, the fight against corruption, billions of dollars in investments, transformation of the energy system, digitalization for every citizen, international tourism in Brezovica, “Made in Kosovo” combat drones, higher salaries, greater social benefits, etc. In short, his exposition seems to say that Kosovo is entering a golden age of development.
But what is missing from the CM's speech is the lack of an answer to a fundamental question: how will the real capabilities (skills and capacities) that make this development possible be built? This is where his speech, full of slogans but weak in content, comes into play. Let's move from one promise to another.
First, the CM promised justice reform and the fight against corruption as moral levers of the VV. It is a fact that for development and prosperity, the rule of law is essential. But the CM used a language of victory, triumphalism, spoke of a decisive phase, fearless implementation, new institutions, etc. We have often failed in this, haven’t we? Today, promises of reform are no longer enough. They demand evidence that institutions are implementing the law in a sustainable manner, even in politically difficult situations.
Secondly, the CM promised investments of up to 1 billion per year in energy, infrastructure, tourism, industry and defense. Kosovo has not only had a problem with the lack of funds. The most typical example is investments in thermal power plants. The fundamental problem in Kosovo is the governance of funds. We have had projects without coordination, programs without continuity and reforms that have always remained on paper.
Therefore, the question that needs an answer is not how much we will invest, but who will coordinate the investment process, how they will be governed. Not how much funding will ministries receive; not how many projects can be announced, but who ensures that these investments will build knowledge generation, industry and real connections in the economy, and not just construction sites and press conferences? Without these answers, the expression “1 billion euros per year” is just a number for beautiful speeches.
Third, the Prime Minister talked about GDP growth, employment, higher wages and social benefits. Beautiful words with political weight. However, Kosovo does not need another government that continues to confuse consumption growth with structural economic transformation. Kosovo needs to escape what in the literature of development economics is called “thin modernization”, a dualistic economy: a few islands of progress such as the one in the field of ICT and mainly in the capital, while the production base remains weak and with old technology. If factories continue to operate with old equipment, if small firms cannot grow and if the economy remains dependent on imports and remittances, then beautiful statistics are not a development strategy, but a temporary hypnotic state of mind.
Fourth, the CM promised digital transformation and linked this mainly to online services for citizens, such as faster applications, more efficient communication with the state, etc. Does this matter? Of course it does. Is it sufficient for development? Not at all. Development does not come from how quickly a certificate is obtained. Development comes when we apply digital technologies to production, increasing productivity and changing what the economy produces. It is ridiculous to expect transformation to come from the way forms are filled out.
Fifth, the CM talked about social benefits, such as increased child benefits, subsidies for working women, wage increases, health checks for all, etc. Of course, these sound attractive as promises. But an economy can never be transformed by building it with increased cash transfers, but by increasing entrepreneurship, industry and innovation. When social policies are not linked to building human capital and increasing productivity, they are made for political and social peace, not for development strategies.
The last and most exemplary of the CM's speech is the theatrical promise to produce domestic combat drones. It sounds patriotic and powerful, but it reveals the typical Balkan mentality and paradox. Politicians talk about advanced war industries, while the economy still struggles in the market with basic skills.
In conclusion, it can be said that the Kosovo CM does not seem to have a clear idea of the era in which we are living. We are living in an era dominated by digital technology. Today, the state cannot function as it did in the 1980s, announcing plans and waiting for reality to follow them. The state now helps development only if it functions as an orchestrator, is open to experiments, learns from mistakes and constantly corrects the course. The CM's speech is full of objectives, but is weak in implementation mechanisms.
We have not suffered from the lack of beautiful objectives on paper. We have suffered and continue to suffer from the lack of a governing technology that knows how to transform objectives into practical success. The Prime Minister describes the new mandate as a mandate of work, justice and prosperity. Beautiful as a phrase. But Kosovo does not need another mandate with beautiful words. It needs a mandate that answers a simple and single question: beyond speeches, beyond projects and beyond numbers, how will we overcome the economic development gap with advanced countries?
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