​Stalemate in the Assembly, new interpretation requested from the Constitutional Court

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani should initiate a case at the Constitutional Court regarding the impasse created in the Assembly, say political experts.

After the sixth failure to constitute the Assembly on Friday, the only way out is seen as a new interpretation by the Constitutional Court regarding the impossibility of electing the Speaker of the Assembly, and consequently, the constitution of the ninth legislature, after the parliamentary elections of February 9.

KosovaPress has sent questions to the Office of the President regarding the possibilities for the country's first lady to address this issue in the Constitutional Court, but they have not responded.

Based on the 2014 Constitutional Court ruling, the exclusive right to nominate a candidate for Speaker of the Assembly belongs to the first party in the election, namely the Vetëvendosje Movement. However, the same ruling does not foresee the possibility that the first party's nominee may not receive the necessary 61 votes, nor does it specify the time frame within which this right may be exercised.

The Vetëvendosje Movement, as the leading party in the elections, has failed in four attempts to elect the Speaker of Parliament, MP Albulena Haxhiu. In the sessions of April 19, 23 and 25, she received only 57 votes out of the 61 needed to take the post.

Against her election to the highest legislative body are MPs from the Democratic Party of Kosovo, the Democratic League of Kosovo, and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, while the three MPs from the Social Democratic Initiative are abstaining.

Among the non-majority communities, the Serb List MPs did not participate in the voting at all in the last three sessions. The same was done by the MP from the Bosniak community, Duda Balje.

Based on this situation, constitutional expert, university professor Mazllum Baraliu, tells KosovaPress that President Vjosa Osmani should initiate the case at the Constitutional Court if there is no solution to the situation in the Assembly.

According to him, the impasse in the Assembly cannot be prolonged further, as long as there is no will from the political parties to, through a political agreement, elect the bodies of the Assembly and constitute the ninth legislature.

"It is the duty of this political class, especially the winning parties that have won mandates in the Assembly, to find a solution and not go on endlessly in this way. There is always a solution when there is will, understanding and awareness of high political and state responsibility from political entities... If this does not happen, then the president of the country has a constitutional right, based on the Constitution, to initiate certain submissions to the Constitutional Court, and she should do this if this odyssey continues indefinitely," he emphasizes.

On the other hand, researcher at the Kosovo Democratic Institute (KDI), Eugen Cakolli, tells KosovaPress that the party authorized to send a case to the Constitutional Court is also the newly sworn-in members of the Assembly, but according to him, the problem is that there is currently no decision from the legislature.

Cakolli added that the Constitutional Court has predetermined that it does not answer questions about how to act, but only deals with concrete cases.

"Although the Constitutional Court recognizes the right of ten, respectively thirty, MPs to challenge cases in the Constitutional Court, the problem with the current situation is the lack of a decision. It is now established in the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court that the Court does not answer questions about how to act, but the court deals only with concrete cases... By taking the oath, MPs are already authorized parties, but there must be a failure in the continuation of the proposal, so that the case can be dealt with by the Constitutional Court," Cakolli declares.

Regarding the claims by the deputies of the LVV, Guxo, Alternativa coalition, that the legal and constitutional deadlines determine that the Assembly must be constituted 30 days after the certification of the results, the expert on the Constitution, Mazllum Baraliu, says that the constitutional provision emphasizes that within 30 days after the certification of the results, the constitutive session must begin and not end.

"The relevant provision of the Constitution states that within 30 days after the certification of the election results, the constitutive session must begin. So, it is the beginning, not the end," he says.

The Vetëvendosje Movement, as the winning party of the February 9 elections, has emphasized that they will continue to nominate elected MP Albulena Haxhiu for Speaker of the Parliament, despite the fact that in four attempts she did not receive the necessary 61 votes.

However, they have considered it necessary to reach a political agreement for the election of her and the other deputy speakers of the Assembly. However, based on political statements, they have not expressed themselves open to finding a compromise to resolve this political crisis.

The seventh attempt to constitute the Assembly will take place on Sunday, April 27, when the next session has been called from 10:00.