Kryeziu calls for agreement on deputy speakers and PDK and LDK participation in session

Former Constitutional Court judge Kadri Kryeziu says political entities should reach an agreement on the election of the deputy speakers of the Assembly so that the process of its constitution can be completed.

Speaking on KosovaPress’s “Interview of the Week,” he called on the PDK and LDK to attend Sunday’s session. According to Kryeziu, the Assembly cannot function if the candidates from these parties are absent.

He stressed that LVV cannot determine for other parties the names they should propose for the deputy speaker positions.

Kryeziu said each party has the right to choose the candidate it considers most suitable and a worthy representative. He described attempts to impose candidates on other political entities as fundamentally unfounded.

According to him, overcoming the deadlock requires the parties to sit down at the table, show seriousness, cooperate, reach consensus and make compromises in order to constitute parliament. He said LVV’s arguments are political statements that produce negative consequences and that a candidate proposed by a relevant political entity must be approved through compromise.

Kryeziu warned that the absence of the PDK, LDK or minority candidates would make it impossible to constitute the Assembly. Such a situation, he said, would only prolong the process and create tensions both within the political scene and in society.

Speaking about the possibilities if the delays continue, he said the Constitutional Court could clarify the situation after the 30-day deadline for constituting the Assembly expires, particularly following the PDK’s warnings that it could refer the matter to the institution.

According to his interpretation, the Court could return the constitution process to square one or find a mechanism leading to the complete dissolution of the eleventh legislature and new elections.

Kryeziu said that matters that have been adjudicated are not retried, which in legal terminology is known as res judicata. Nevertheless, he said a request should have been filed with the Constitutional Court to clarify the 2025 judgment concerning the consequences of failing to constitute parliament within 30 days.

He stressed that the Court could clarify what should happen after August 7 if the Assembly is not constituted. According to him, MPs have the right to refer the matter to the Constitutional Court, which could return the situation to square one, enable parliament to be constituted anew or establish a mechanism for proceeding to elections.

The former Constitutional Court member also gave his view on the mandate of acting President Albulena Haxhiu.

He said that if the Assembly is constituted, the institutions would start from square one and Haxhiu would have a new six-month mandate as acting president.

According to Kryeziu, claims that her tenure as acting president ends on October 5 have no legal basis, since the state cannot be left without functioning institutions.

He linked the issue to Article 11 of the Constitution, emphasizing that the state must preserve institutional functioning even in extraordinary circumstances.

Kryeziu said that once parliament is constituted and all its mechanisms are in place, the president and the speaker of parliament would start from square one. For this reason, he said, Haxhiu would also have a six-month mandate.

He stressed that citizens are free to offer other interpretations, but said they have no legal basis. Kryeziu added that the state cannot be left without leadership and institutions, particularly in light of Article 11 of the Constitution and the possibility of states of emergency, including wartime situations.

Kryeziu also spoke about the former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army, who are facing trial before the Specialist Chambers in The Hague.

He expressed his conviction that they would be released on September 16 and said the former KLA leaders would return to their political and personal lives.

According to Kryeziu, they are “the last political liberators of this century.” He said Albanians have had imprisonment as part of their history, but maintained that freedom fighters are not convicted in the democratic world.

He repeated his conviction that the former KLA leaders would be released and return to their political and personal lives. Kryeziu concluded by saying that he hopes and is convinced that on the 16th of this month they will be free, in a free Kosovo.