CEC Awaits Supreme Court Verdict, Baraliu Opposes General Vote Recount

The Central Election Commission is awaiting the Supreme Court’s decision on appeals filed against the results announced on June 27, while their certification will depend on the completion of this process.

CEC spokesperson Valmir Elezi told KosovaPress that if the Supreme Court’s decisions do not impose obligations on the CEC, then the institution can proceed with certifying the results.

He explained that if the Supreme Court’s decisions result in obligations for the CEC, those will first be implemented and only then will the certification process move forward.

“The Central Election Commission is awaiting the Supreme Court’s decision-making regarding the appeals submitted over the results announced on June 27. If the decisions do not contain obligations for the CEC, the certification of the results may proceed. Meanwhile, if the decisions contain obligations for the CEC, they will first be implemented, after which the certification of the results will proceed,” Elezi said.

On the other hand, professor and election process expert Mazllum Baraliu considers the request for a recount of all votes of one political entity unnecessary, arguing that verification has already been carried out by the responsible institutions in the presence of commissioners and observers from all political entities.

According to him, the prolonging of this process is unnecessarily delaying the certification of the results and the creation of new institutions.

Baraliu: Vote recount unnecessary

“I think that entering a process of recounting all the hundreds of thousands of votes of one political entity is something unnecessary, because they have been verified. All votes were checked at the Counting and Results Center by the competent officials and in the presence of representatives of all political entities. Therefore, the Supreme Court should complete without delay the review of this appeal, or these two appeals, if they are separate, and clear the way for the CEC to certify the results and form the institutions. We have been delayed far too much and there is no longer any basis or justification for further delays, even by judicial bodies,” Baraliu told KosovaPress.

KosovaPress also sought comment from the Supreme Court regarding the appeals submitted, but by the time this article was published, it had not received a response.

The CEC published the final results of the June 7 elections on June 27.

According to these results, first place was won by the Vetëvendosje Movement, in a pre-election coalition with Guxo and Alternativa, with 47.13%, securing 53 seats. The Democratic Party of Kosovo, with 19.44%, won 22 seats, while the Democratic League of Kosovo, with 16.69%, won 18 seats. The Alliance, with 6.74%, secured seven seats.

The Supreme Court’s decision is expected to constitute the final legal step before the certification of the election results.

In addition to the constitution of the Assembly and the formation of the Government, deputies of the eleventh legislature also have the obligation to elect the new president, for which the deadline is 60 days from the moment the Assembly is constituted.

The June 7 elections were held precisely after parliamentary parties failed to elect the country’s president following the end of former president Vjosa Osmani’s mandate.