VV rejects investigative requests to the Prime Minister’s Office, Ramadani calls for change of position

Including Prime Minister Albin Kurti on the list of institutions from which documents and testimony would be requested did not win the approval of members of the Vetëvendosje Movement on the Parliamentary Inquiry Committee today. The committee is examining the actions and failures to act of institutions in connection with the killing of Arlinda Zeka, as well as their handling of domestic violence against women and children.

At the end of the meeting, the committee chair, Burim Ramadani, accused LVV of entering the discussion with positions decided in advance, preventing the Prime Minister’s Office from being included in the investigation.

According to Ramadani, the main disagreement over the action plan concerned Vetëvendosje’s refusal to allow the committee to direct requests to the Prime Minister’s Office as well. He said the party’s members had formed their positions before the meeting and were blocking its inclusion.

Ramadani clarified that the discussion concerned the list of institutions from which the committee could request documents, testimony and evidence, not the witness stage. He said VV wanted to leave the Prime Minister’s Office out entirely, relying on its majority of votes. He urged his Vetëvendosje colleagues to reconsider that position and, on Monday, drop their opposition to sending requests to the office.

Besa Kabashi-Ramaj, a member of parliament from the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), also expressed concern about the progress of the committee’s work. She said a committee dealing with such a serious case should rise above political clashes and serve a national cause, and regretted that these divisions were not being overcome.

Kabashi-Ramaj said a detailed plan had been presented, with lists and steps for each stage of the process. In her view, the examination of responsibility should begin with the lowest institutional level and extend to the political level.

In the case of Arlinda Zekaj, the lawmaker called for everyone who had been part of that chain to account for their actions before the inquiry committee. She stressed that the issue was the responsibility of institutions, not individuals, because those institutions had failed to protect a woman who had asked them for protection.

Emphasizing the importance of the committee working without politicization, Kabashi-Ramaj added that even a minister with an excellent record bears moral responsibility when a tragedy occurs, whether or not they bear criminal responsibility.

Doarsa Kica-Xhelili, a member of parliament from the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), described the way discussions on such an important case were unfolding as unfortunate. She said she had tried to understand both sides and had insisted that the item be approved even without the prime minister’s name.

According to Kica-Xhelili, that would bring two things into focus: the resistance to including a person responsible for state policies, and the aim of conducting a genuine, fact-based investigation. For that reason, she had proposed that interviews not begin with the most senior officials before moving down to other levels.

Her proposal was to hear first from officials of the municipality of Peja, the QPS, prosecutors and police officers, leaving the central level until last. She explained that this order would help identify the real problems and determine what questions should be put to central institutions.

Kica-Xhelili also noted that LVV’s proposal named the mayor of Peja. Her argument was that if only the mayor, and not the municipal departments, was included at the municipal level, then the same logic at the central level meant including the prime minister, who oversees the ministries.