Adnan Rrustemi, a deputy from the Vetëvendosje Movement, said that the constitutive session of the Assembly will continue only after the parties reach a political agreement on the election of the president.
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In an interview with KosovaPress, Rrustemi said that the Assembly’s rules of procedure set a 48-hour deadline for calling the continuation of the session. However, he said, the main issue is not compliance with this deadline, but the lack of a political agreement on the president.
“We need time to reach an agreement on the president. Until we have an agreement on this issue, the constitution of the legislature would be a step toward early elections, which, in our view, are unnecessary. This would not lead to a solution to the main problem that has preoccupied Kosovo since the beginning of this year,” he declared.
Rrustemi described the opposition’s insistence on constituting the Assembly, while simultaneously stating that it would not participate in the session to elect the president, as a demand for early elections. He reiterated his position that Kosovo does not need elections, but an agreement on the president. The LVV deputy added that the 48-hour deadline is set out in the rules of procedure, but that the essence of the crisis remains reaching a political agreement on the president.
He said there had been no constitutional violation regarding the 30-day deadline, referring to the Constitutional Court’s interpretation. According to this interpretation, the failure to finally constitute the Assembly within 30 days does not automatically result in consequences in terms of its dissolution.
According to Rrustemi, the participation of former opposition deputies in last week’s session also shows that there was no constitutional obstacle to holding it. He called on the other parliamentary parties to turn to the Constitutional Court if they have doubts about the constitutionality of the process.
“The opposition is using the Constitution as an argument to obstruct the establishment of institutions. This position is absurd, since the Constitution was not drafted to block institutions, but to serve as a tool for creating them. The alternative proposed by the opposition’s criticism—the holding of elections—is not a solution,” Rrustemi said.
He stressed that the Constitution stipulates that the constitutive session must be called within 30 days of the certification of the election results. Rrustemi also mentioned an interpretation by the Constitutional Court from last year which, according to him, gives this provision a different meaning, underscoring that the failure to finally constitute the Assembly within this deadline does not automatically lead to its dissolution.
The LVV deputy added that the opposition’s participation in Saturday’s session demonstrates that opposition deputies themselves did not consider there to have been a constitutional violation. He also described their demand that the session be held every 48 hours as evidence that, in their view, there are no constitutional obstacles to constituting the Assembly.
Rrustemi denied that the process of constituting the Assembly was being delayed with the aim of holding new elections in December. He said Vetëvendosje’s objective was to reach an agreement on the president and avoid early elections.
“We are not delaying the process for this reason. Our demand is an agreement on the president and the conviction that Kosovo does not need elections, but a president. Only those who see elections as an alternative can make such criticisms and justifications. We want an agreement on a consensual president, not elections,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, Rrustemi announced that the party chairman and acting prime minister, Albin Kurti, would soon send new invitations for meetings to the leaders of the former opposition parties.
“There will be invitations and meetings. We will not give up on dialogue with the opposition parties, with the aim of finding a fair and useful solution that fits the current situation and avoids early elections,” Rrustemi declared.
Kosovo’s Assembly has still not been constituted, as the speaker has not been elected in either of the two attempts so far and the constitution of the 11th Legislature has not been completed. The constitutive session remains a point of confrontation between the parliamentary parties, while the inability to form institutions is prolonging the political crisis in the country.
Acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti has requested time to reach a political agreement, with the aim of paving the way for the constitution of the Assembly and the establishment of new institutions. Deputies are expected to return once again in an effort to constitute the Assembly, a key process for forming Kosovo’s new institutions.
