Assembly adds Special Court law to agenda, Çitaku promises amendments within two weeks

With 79 votes in favor, the Kosovo Assembly decided to add the draft law amending and supplementing the Law on the Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office to its agenda. The draft law had been approved in two readings on October 6, but President Justina Shiroka-Pula returned it to the Assembly at the request of the PDK.

At the request of Vlora Çitaku, acting leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), the issue was placed last on the agenda for today’s session. Çitaku urged lawmakers to pass the law today and begin amending it immediately afterward, proposing a two-week deadline for that process.

She said the PDK had received advice and recommendations that, in her view, would strengthen the law and make it more legally robust against possible challenges at later stages. Çitaku said the party had made its decision knowing it could come at a political cost, but believing the objective mattered more than any potential harm to the PDK. She added that she believed the law could be amended and that, despite procedural disagreements during discussions with senior LVV figures and the parliamentary groups that had supported it, there had been agreement on its substance. Çitaku publicly pledged to submit a new legislative initiative on Monday and said the amendments would be made within two weeks.

Arbërie Nagavci, head of the Vetëvendosje Movement’s parliamentary group, also spoke in favor of adding the draft law to the agenda. She said the LVV believed neither the draft law nor the way it was being handled was the right approach. Nevertheless, because the PDK believed in the draft law, the LVV decided to support the request, leaving open the possibility of discussing the issue again.

Jehona Lushaku, head of the LDK parliamentary group, said her party had not changed its position on the Special Court law since it was first proposed.

During the discussion, Çitaku and Assembly Speaker Albulena Haxhiu clashed over where the item should appear on the agenda. Çitaku asked for it to be considered immediately after parliamentary questions, while Haxhiu opposed the change and said it would remain at the end of the agenda. She asked Çitaku not to undermine the majority’s stated position and will with another proposal, and urged lawmakers not to submit further requests, citing the sensitivity of the issue and the debates surrounding it.