(Un) divided property – Analysis of the possession of property by political officials and spouses of political officials

Prishtinë, 08 March 2021 – The FOL movement with the support of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) has analyzed data from the declaration of assets of public officials regarding the possession of the assets of public officials and the wives of public officials. To discuss the findings of this report were invited Edi Gusia, Chief Executive Officer of the Agency for Gender Equality, Office of the Prime Minister and Luljeta Demolli, Executive Director, Kosovo Center for Gender Studies. Also online was Daniel Brown, director of the KAS office for Kosovo and Macedonia.

Mexhide – Demolli – Nimani executive director for the FOL Movement said that the purpose of this report is to reflect upon the conditions of the official public women and the women of the public officials in the declaration of property on behalf of both spouses, but also the participation of the wife as owner in the donated inheritance or (individually) purchased property. “This report includes the deputies of the last two legislatures of the Assembly, the government cabinets of the Haradinaj government, Kurti and Hoti, as well as the mayors,” she said.

Daniel Brown – office director of KAS- in Kosovo and Macedonia said that economic equality is very important in order to reach women equality.

Alba Jakupi from FOL Movement presented findings reports and she said:

In Hoti Government – only 36% of ministers have assets on the name of their wife’s, while 18.5% of deputy ministers have assets the on name of their wife’s: This government has had 3 women ministers, two of whom have assets on their name while one does not.

In Kurti Government, 85% of former ministers have assets on the name of their wife’s, 50% of deputy ministers have assets on the name of their wife’s. In this government, 50% of women ministers have assets on their name, while 33% of deputy ministers have assets on their name.

In Haradinaj Government, 25% of former ministers have assets on the name of their wifes’s, while 50% of former deputy ministers have assets on their wife’s name. This government has had only one women minister, which had assets on her name, said Jakupi.

Edi Gusia, the head of Gender Equality Agency in the prime minister office, said that Family law recognizes property created after marriage as property belonging to both spouses, unfortunately they are not yet aware to register in the name of both spouses. “I am glad that 55% of mayors have registered assets in the name of their spouses, even though no woman leads at the municipal level,” said Gusia.

Meanwhile, Luljeta Demolli – director of the Kosovo Center for Gender Studies, said that in Kosovo the division of heritage is not satisfactory and as she says, this shows that there are still remnants of patriarchy in families and institutions. “The division of wealth is a division of power, so it can be seen that in Kosovo this power does not belong to both sexes equally,” she said.