Ilir Kërçeli, a deputy from the Vetëvendosje Movement, said that a meeting between Albin Kurti and the leaders of the opposition parties is expected to take place.

He said that, before the speaker and deputy speakers of the Assembly, as well as the government, are voted in, an agreement is needed that also includes the post of president.

In a statement to EO, Kërçeli said they were awaiting a meeting with the political entities, with the aim of reaching a comprehensive agreement on all positions in the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo. He stressed that he personally had no information about whether another attempt had been made to organize the next meeting with the leaders of the political parties. Referring to the constitutional deadline, the deputy said that not even six days had yet passed since they were sworn in as deputies and that, before that point, they had not had the opportunity to meet and call the session.

Kërçeli also said that he had no information on whether such a meeting could be held soon.

Regarding the period of approximately 48 hours, he said that the opposition was seeking the election of the speaker and the Assembly Presidium. However, according to him, votes on the government and the president would follow, which is why Vetëvendosje believes that, before the speaker and deputy speakers are elected, a comprehensive agreement on all positions must first be reached.

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Acting President and Vetëvendosje Movement MP Albulena Haxhiu said before the start of the constitutive session that the former opposition parties had not registered the necessary signatures. According to her, had this been done, the session scheduled for the previous evening would have taken place.

Haxhiu said that notice of participation in the session had been given, but the 40 signatures had not been forwarded to Assembly Chair Avni Dehari.

“I am here because the chair called the session. If it had also been called last night, of course I would have come. I do not understand why the signatures were not registered. There are 40 signatures that were not addressed to Avni Dehari, so I do not understand why they were not sent. If their intention was to hold the session, the procedure was very simple. Notice that we would attend the session was given, but that is not enough; the signatures must be registered. I do not understand why this did not happen. The MPs came here and held press conferences, while the claim that the doors were closed to them could have been clarified very easily,” Haxhiu said.

The Assembly of Kosovo has scheduled the continuation of the constitutive session for today, Saturday, at 11:00 a.m. This came after the former opposition parties requested that the session be held yesterday afternoon, arguing that the 30-day constitutional deadline for constituting the Assembly expired at midnight.

In the June 7 elections, the Vetëvendosje Movement secured 53 MPs, the PDK 22, the LDK 18, and the Alliance 7.

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Nezir Kraki, an MP from the Vetëvendosje Movement, believes that the 30-day period for constituting the Assembly of Kosovo has not yet expired. According to him, the countdown began only on Thursday, August 6, when the MPs were sworn in and the constitutive session began.

He described as inaccurate the claims that the deadline for establishing the new legislature is now expiring. Kraki argued that, before taking the oath, the MPs had no authority to take action as part of this process.

“All those who think that the deadline for constituting the Assembly expires tonight are mistaken. Regardless of whether they are doing so knowingly or not, the matter is entirely simple and basic when it comes to constitutional norms,” Kraki said.

In his interpretation, the 30-day period cannot begin on the date when the election results were certified.

In a video posted on Facebook, he said the 30 days given to MPs to constitute the Assembly cannot be counted from the certification of the results, since there were no sworn-in MPs until a day earlier. For this reason, according to him, they had no opportunity to act before taking the oath.

Kraki also emphasized that the date of the constitutive session is not determined by lawmakers but is set by the Presidency.

“The Presidency sets the session, while parliamentary life begins on the day the constitutive session opens. For this reason, the 30-day deadline could only have begun yesterday. Since yesterday, we have been able to act because we are MPs, we have taken the oath, and the session has begun,” he said.

Questioning what MPs could have done before taking the oath, Kraki asked whether they could have imposed a different date for the session on the Presidency. His answer was no, as it was regarding the possibility of holding talks to fill positions or constitute the Assembly before taking the oath.

The VV MP called on representatives of civil society, opposition supporters, fellow MPs, the media and analysts not to rush their interpretation of the deadline.

“There is no reason for you to rush, whether you are from civil society, supporters of the opposition, fellow MPs, the media or analysts. I am not talking about parties or politics, but about constitutional norms,” Kraki said.

According to him, if the matter is referred to the Constitutional Court, the fact that MPs were not in a position to take action before being sworn in must be taken into consideration.

Kraki said that if the case ends up in court, it has no alternative but to find that lawmakers had no real opportunity to act before taking the oath. Consequently, according to him, they cannot be blamed for failing to carry out a duty for which they lacked the necessary means and authorization, namely the status of sworn-in MPs.

He said the Assembly and the current legislature cannot be held responsible for the fact that the Assembly was not constituted before the opening of the constitutive session, as that session had not begun until yesterday.

Based on this interpretation, Kraki said that the process of constituting the Assembly must be completed no later than September 5.

“The session continues tomorrow, and we have until September 5. The 30-day deadline now extends until that date for the completion of the constitutive process,” he said.

Finally, Kraki clarified that the Constitution does not contain such a deadline. According to him, the 30-day period stems from a Constitutional Court ruling issued during the first institutional deadlock.

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