The Constitutional Court ruled on September 23 that the constitution of the Assembly and the formation of the Government are not in violation of the Constitution, but found that the Assembly was constituted after the 30-day deadline had passed. As a legal consequence, the Constitutional Court announced that the deadline for electing the president is October 6. The Court also asked the deputies to elect as soon as possible the vice-president of the Assembly from the ranks of the second-largest parliamentary group, i.e. the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK).
Të lidhura
None found
Vetëvendosje Movement deputy Adnan Rrustemi emphasizes that for this political subject, the priority is the election of the President and avoiding a new electoral process. In an interview for KosovaPress, he stated that they will exhaust all possibilities to secure the new president by October 6, while calling on the Democratic Party of Kosovo and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo to reconsider their positions, especially after the Specialist Court sentenced former KLA leaders on September 16.
Rrustemi criticized the interpretation by the Constitutional Court regarding the deadline for the election of the President, stressing that this interpretation has significantly narrowed the available time frame for efforts to find a consensus president.
According to him, these 12 days belong to the process of electing the president and every political party must bear in mind that this is the most important issue to give the country stability and avoid elections. He assesses that Kosovo needs a president, not new elections, and that a consensus president would create conditions for institutional stability and facing all challenges. Rrustemi added that it would be surprising if after September 16 the opposition parties hold the same positions as before. He thinks that any opposition party that has calculated to prevent the Kurti Government by limiting its mandate through the president’s election process must reflect and sit down to reach consensus on the president, after which work can continue.
After the June 7 elections, PDK declared that it will remain in the opposition and will not be involved in talks on the election of the president. Meanwhile, the Alliance has put forward some demands, including the acceptance of American gas, as a condition for supporting the election of the president.
According to Rrustemi, after the conviction of the former KLA leaders by the Specialist Court, these two political forces should change their stance on cooperation with LVV for the election of the President. He emphasizes that overcoming the issue of the president would secure Kosovo stable institutions with a full mandate, capable of facing the challenge of the Specialist Court and providing full state support with a coordinated strategy to the four former KLA leaders.
Rrustemi stated that LVV has been and remains open to talks with any party to resolve the issue of the president. According to him, it is not known whether after September 16 the stance of PDK and AAK towards cooperation with the Vetëvendosje Movement has changed. He once again invited the political parties to reflect, especially after September 16, reiterating that it would be surprising if PDK and AAK, which had refused cooperation before this date, keep the same positions afterwards. According to him, nothing is more important than overcoming the president issue in order to have stable institutions with full mandate and to provide full state support with a coordinated strategy to the four former KLA leaders in confronting the Specialist Court.
The deputy from the majority said that the Constitutional Court has found that the constitution of the Assembly and the formation of the Government are in accordance with the Constitution. However, he criticized the interpretation by the Constitutional Court regarding the deadline for the election of the President of the Republic of Kosovo.
Rrustemi recalled that in the previous ruling on the dissolution of the Assembly, which was related to the election of the President, the Constitutional Court had expressly said that the procedure begins from the moment of the constitution of the Assembly. He added that responsibility cannot be transferred to the institution and deputies as long as the institution is not fully operational and lacks capacity. According to him, without the Assembly being constituted, the procedure for electing the President could not have started and the deadline should only run from that moment. However, he described the Constitutional Court’s interpretation as strange, as it has significantly shortened the period and the effort to find a consensus president.
Regarding the opposition’s assessments that the Constitutional Court ruined LVV’s calculus for holding elections on December 27, Rrustemi denied them, saying that the main focus has been and remains the election of the president and avoiding new elections.
He emphasized that the only calculus of the Vetëvendosje Movement during these months has been finding the solution for the president. According to him, they did not want and do not want elections, but want the President of the Republic, which matches the desire and demand of citizens to avoid elections. Meanwhile, the opposition parties, according to him, have wanted to cause continuous elections this time as well. He added that those who want elections should not have a problem with December 27 and must answer why they had a problem with that date, since they themselves were calling for elections.
Asked about the possibility of a compromise with PDK to secure votes for the president by adopting legal changes for the Specialist Court, he replied that the issue of the Specialist Court must not be treated with short-term political calculations.
Rrustemi declared that the confrontation with the Specialist Court must be done at the state level and with a coordinated strategy. He said that he is against treating the Specialist Court issue with daily political calculations, rejecting the logic of “I do this, and you do that.” According to him, we must face the Specialist Court as a state, as a society and as institutions, with a coordinated state strategy and with clear predictability of actions and their usefulness.
Therefore, he assessed that it is very important to have stable and fully functional institutions. Rrustemi expressed concern as a citizen that it is extremely difficult to face this battle that affects everyone if there are no stable institutions. He added that it is essential to elect the President of the Republic, so that institutions can continue work with a full mandate and to begin a joint work beyond political differences to confront what he termed an unjust court and process. He mentioned that these are 12 days and that one can understand what work can be done in the Assembly within this deadline with existing procedures.
