Haxhiu calls on parties to reach an agreement on the election of the president

Kosovo Assembly Speaker and Acting President Albulena Haxhiu called on the PDK Parliamentary Group to abandon its procedural initiative to approve, at second reading, the draft law amending the Law on Specialist Chambers.

According to Haxhiu, the agenda should not be changed during the session, as there had been a prior agreement on the matter between the leaders of the Vetëvendosje Movement and the PDK.

She appealed to political leaders to sit down together and reach an agreement on Kosovo’s president, saying that his election is essential for the normal functioning of the institutions.

Haxhiu warned that, although the Assembly has the ability to pass laws, the failure to elect a president could send the country back to elections and further worsen the institutional situation.

“It is not right to intervene between items on the agenda. We understand the sensitivity and importance of this issue. The agreement was that, after the meeting of the leaders, namely of LVV and the leader of the PDK, we could reach an agreement on the matter in question. This was the agreement, and I do not understand how you can change your position after such a short time. I encourage you, precisely because of the urgency, sensitivity and importance of the situation following the September 16 decision, to come together and give the country a president. We can draft laws, but if we go to elections, they will remain there alone. Therefore, today I invite you, as Assembly speaker and acting president, to meet, reach an agreement and come to the session. There is no more important issue, I repeat, than the president. Not because of any particular name, but because we cannot take the country to elections for a second time because of the president. That would be irresponsible and disregard for the responsibilities we have toward the citizens of the Republic of Kosovo. Please act in accordance with your responsibility,” she declared.

Arian Tahiri, head of the PDK Parliamentary Group, responded to Haxhiu. He said that the Assembly was surrounded by citizens and that the institutions could not behave as though the situation were normal.

“At this moment, the city of Pristina and the Kosovo Assembly are surrounded by Kosovo Albanians who feel the importance of this issue. We must not behave and act as though nothing is happening. Our request is for the draft law to be voted on at second reading and enacted in full,” Tahiri said.

However, the Assembly speaker did not put the PDK’s motion to a vote and continued reviewing the other items on the agenda.