Haxhiu: Two years lost for Kosovo, institutions must return to reforms

The election of Justina Shiroka-Pula as president has paved the way for Kosovo’s institutions to function effectively again, according to Assembly Speaker Albulena Haxhiu. She said political clashes and delays in establishing the institutions had cost the country two years.

In an interview with RTK, Haxhiu said these crises had prevented many issues and reforms from being addressed. According to her, the agreement that enabled the president’s election spared the country another election.

To explain the time lost, she referred to February last year, when elections had concluded following a term in office by the government of the time. Haxhiu described them as snap elections, although they were in fact regular parliamentary elections. She said that efforts to elect an Assembly speaker had been unsuccessful for ten months, attributing this to resistance and excuses from the opposition.

In Haxhiu’s view, the issue of the presidency provided no reason for Kosovo to hold another election, making such a move entirely unjustifiable. She welcomed the agreement, although it was reached at the last minute and without a prior understanding. She said Shiroka-Pula had been elected to a five-year term within the available deadline.

The Assembly speaker stressed that institutional responsibilities were now clearly defined. In this context, she recalled the six months during which she had served as acting president and the uncertainty over who would take over the role if her mandate ended. For this reason, Haxhiu explained, they had turned to the Constitutional Court.

She reiterated that the Assembly’s election of the president had prevented fresh elections. During the discussion, she also mentioned the September 16 ruling from The Hague, which she considered unjust.

In closing, Haxhiu said much work remained unaddressed and many reforms still needed to be undertaken. Nevertheless, she said the institutions were now on the right track to fulfill all their responsibilities to citizens.