Kosovo's Post-independence Inter-clan Conflict - HUMSEC

HUMSEC Journal, Issue 2
Kosovo’s Post-independence Inter-clan Conflict
mush Haradinaj respectively. Each political party has a clearly defined regional support
base. AAK, for example, is supported by the clans close to Haradinaj in the Dukagjini region.
Drenica region is the home base of PDK since both the former PDK leader Jakup
Krasniqi and former KLA leader and spokesman Hashim Thaci come from Drenica. 50 At
the local level, the positions of mayors and municipal council advisors are distributed in a
similar fashion.
The schism in the political arena today is between LDK and PDK, with a fragile coalition
between LDK and AAK. 51 While this coalition initially reduced the tensions in the Dukagjini
region, the blood feud murder of Sadik Musaj and Enver Haradinaj and the anticipation
of possible retaliatory attacks risk escalating the tensions between the two parties. As the
International Crisis Group reports, PDK and media allegations that LDK members from
western Kosovo will testify against Haradinaj at The Hague are further fueling the fire. 52
In the absence of a unifying leader at a national level such as former President Rugova,
Kosovo politics will be fiercely contested after independence. One would think that the independence
would unite conflicting political parties so that they could jointly work for the
common good of a prospering Kosovo. However, the schisms between the parties are deep,
and differences will only be overcome with great difficulty in a post-independence setting.
The intricate interplay of inter-clan relations based on political affiliations, former KLA or
FARK affiliations, and clan balancing in the illegal trade and trafficking will define each
party’s struggle for greater power and status. With feuding clans and revenge killings in the
background, the competition between LDK, PDK and AAK will be profoundly feverish.
From today’s perspective, one could only speculate about the end result of this competition.
In conclusion, the Code of Leke Dukagjini is enshrined deeply in the culture and lifestyle of
the Kosovo Albanians. Even after independence, when the security dilemma particularly
vis-à-vis Serbia is likely to decrease, Kosovo will still remain unstable because of the
heated inter-clan relations. Clan-based kinship ties are likely to be the basis for the mobilization
of manipulative elites who will struggle to gain wealth, power and status. The formation
of a stable central government will be impeded by the interests of powerful clans who
permeate not only the political life but also reign in the “underground” world of the Albanian
mafia. A stable government will be possible only if a solution can be found for Kosovo’s
inter-clan conflict.
50 International Crisis Group, Kosovo After Haradinaj, at p. 18.
51 International Crisis Group, Kosovo After Haradinaj, at p. 19.
52 International Crisis Group, Kosovo After Haradinaj, at p. 21. Interestingly, The Hague acquitted Haradinaj
in Spring 2008.
124