Celibashi keeps Kuçova mayor in office; decriminalization law does not apply to Kreshnik Hajdari

State Election Commissioner Ilirjan Celibashi has decided not to strip Kuçova Mayor Kreshnik Hajdari of his mandate, concluding that in this case the criteria set out by the decriminalization law are not met.

The decision came after reviewing an appeal filed by Lefter Maliqi, the former opposition candidate for the Municipality of Kuçova, who had requested that Hajdari’s mandate be revoked. The complaint alleged that the mayor had falsified the decriminalization form because he had not disclosed a previous conviction in Greece.

In his reasoning, Celibashi said that, according to the way he interprets the law in his capacity as State Election Commissioner, Hajdari is not in a situation that bars him from exercising the function.

“We are not in a situation of prohibition under the decriminalization law. The subject is not in the conditions of prohibition under the law, according to the reading I make of it as Commissioner,” Celibashi declared.

Following this decision, Kreshnik Hajdari continues to hold the mandate of Mayor of Kuçova.