FOL Open with the Minister of Local Government Administration, Mr. Elbert Krasniqi

Pristine,  22 April 2021 – Levizja FOL has started today with a series of debates at the FOL Open Forum with Ministers. The first guest of the FOL Open Forum was Mr. Elbert Krasniqi, Minister in the Ministry of Local Government Administration.

The purpose of these discussion and the other discussions that we will hold with the ministers in the upcoming dates will be about the priorities in Government Program, focusing on the Annual Work Plan of the Government for 2021.

In the speech of Mr. Elbert Krasniqi, you can see some of the priorities of this Ministry as well as the promises for its 100 days of work.

The speech for FOL Open

Dear Mr. Demolli – Nimani

Dear Media representatives

Dear Guests

Allow me to first thank you for the invitation, for me and the ministry that I lead is a great honor

my presence today in this format of discussion. Let me begin my speech with the first commitment and priority that the MLGA under my leadership has and will have and that is the cooperation with civil society. It is extremely important that in addition to the institutional overview we also have the critical and analytical perspective from civil society organizations for the development and advancement of local government in the Republic of Kosovo.

The Ministry of Local Government Administration – MLGA has prepared the draft government strategic and operational plan for the years 2021-2025. In this plan for this period of time it is foreseen to achieve, among others, four strategic goals for the advancement of local government in the Republic of Kosovo. This plan is based on scanning the current situation and as a derivative of a comprehensive process within the ministry.

MLGA’s main priority is to support municipalities in managing and fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. For this we are at the end of the procedures together with the Ministry of Health for the allocation of an emergency fund especially for the supply of municipalities with drugs from the essential list. We have prepared and planned the strategic goals that require immediate intervention within the first 100 days of this government. The first intervention should be made in the reform of the legal framework for local government through the amendment and drafting of a new legal framework related to the administration of local government. During this 100 days we will be able to complete and amend two basic laws for local government, that of Local Self-Government (LAW NO. 03 / L-040) and the law on Local Government Finance (LAW NO. 03 / L-049). While we will complete the concept papers for the two new laws, namely the Law on the Fourth Government Grant and the Law on the Municipal Performance Grant. The first as a derivative of our electoral promise and the second as a derivative of a long process where the MLGA together with international donors have evaluated and provided grants to municipalities based on their annual performance. The COVID 19 pandemic has also affected the local level, respectively at two levels, the public and the private. In the public sector, the impact has been on limiting the opportunity for public investment, on the limited provision of public and administrative services, the inability of municipalities to undertake public procurement procedures, the cancellation of meetings of municipal collective bodies, and the cancellation of public consultations. While, in the private sector, the most affected are the construction sector, hotel, gastronomy, textile and most services. In order to have an accurate picture of the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic at the local level, MLGA has planned to conduct a study in each municipality respectively in the 38 municipalities of the Republic of Kosovo to identify and address each problem that the pandemic has caused. So, this will be a public policy orienting document regarding the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic at the local level in the Republic of Kosovo. The identified problems will be addressed through the development and implementation of Municipal Emergency Economic Recovery Plans. For this, the MLGA will organize a Conference of local and foreign donors and investors to assist municipalities in implementing those plans. The methodology will be based on RAR – Rapid Assessment and Response techniques. Open, efficient and accountable governance will be the priority of the 100 days of MLGA. This ministry has planned to achieve this by starting the membership procedures in the international organization Open Government Partnership – OGP. Kosovo’s membership in this international mechanism for open government is not an end in itself because the real goal is to draft and implement the National Plan for Open Government 2022-2024. To this end, based on the practices and procedures of the OGP, the MLGA in close coordination with other departments of the Government of Kosovo will establish a National Membership Committee which committee will be chaired by the MLGA (respectively the Government of Kosovo) and co- is led by Civil Society Organizations in Kosovo. This committee will consist of public institutions, non-governmental organizations, representatives of the business sector and other relevant local and foreign actors in the Republic of Kosovo. So, during 2021, the criteria for membership in the OGP will be evaluated, the establishment and functioning of the National Committee for Membership will be done, the drafting of the plan and the government decision for its implementation will take place.

Also the priority of the first 100 days will be the beginning of works on the development of the national platform for local government E-MUNICIPALITIES. With this platform we will be able to reach efficiency of municipal public services through the digitalization of services and increasing the transparency and accountability of the legislature and the executive at the local level. In the framework of the government strategic and operational plan for the years 2021-2025, MLGA is also focused on sustainable and long-term municipal development. We will achieve this through the design and implementation of the National Program for Local Economic Development 2022 – 2029. Such a document would be in line with the European integration agenda by incorporating and adopting the EU Regional Development Strategy where one third of the total EU budget goes to investments for the implementation of this strategy. Last but not least, it helps to harmonize development policies from the central to the local level through the centralization of policies through the IV Government Grant.The whole 8-year process should be done in full coordination between the MLGA, the Office of the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister for Development and Integration, line ministries, all municipalities and local and international institutions and organizations.

In addition to the change in the legal framework for local government comes the structural change in the functioning of municipalities. In this change we will focus on establishing and advancing human rights mechanisms and communities at the local level. For this, the law on Local Self-Government will provide for the amalgamation of many interconnected offices in the Municipal Directorate for Human and Community Rights. With this, in addition to making this directorate operational, we will also address the ongoing EU recommendations for the local level in the Annual Progress Reports for the Republic of Kosovo. As I mentioned at the beginning this plan is based on a preliminary assessment of the current situation. Two serious interventions are needed to build human capacity for the advancement of local government. One is related to the advancement of the European integration process where we as MLGA will not allow the local level to be an obstacle in this process. For this and given the current level of human capacity dealing with integration at the municipal level we have foreseen the provision of scholarships under the Young Cell Scheme for 2022. Education and systematization in the Municipal Offices for Integration of 38 educated officials within of this scheme for European integration. While within the MLGA the sector for programming, monitoring, contracting and project evaluation will be strengthened through the establishment of the Department for Programming, monitoring, contracting and evaluation of projects within the MLGA.

MLGA will continue awarding grants for socio-economic services and in cooperation with foreign donors the allocation of performance grants and grants through the EU IPA program for cross-border cooperation. Also for the private sector in cooperation with the World Bank will continue to empower young entrepreneurs through the allocation of grants to small and medium enterprises. Through this program, it is foreseen to allocate 4000 grants for the period 2022-2025 and the support of 200 young entrepreneurs with cash, thus realizing our electoral promises.

Thank you and I am open to any questions and other topics for discussion of the interest and local governement area.

These discussions are supported by the MATRA program of the Dutch Embassy in Kosovo and implemented in cooperation with the Prishtina Institute for Political Studies (PIPS).