Assembly of charges and conditions

Representatives of the entities that were in opposition in the previous legislature, both before and after the continuation of the session held on Monday, have again opposed the LVV proposal for the Speaker of the Assembly. For the PDK and the AAK, the name of Albulena Haxhiu is unacceptable, and for the LDK, any proposal coming from the LVV is unacceptable. And the party that emerged victorious in the elections describes the approach of its opponents as blocking. In fact, this entity leaves open the possibility that if there is an agreement with others, after the constitution of the Assembly, the country will go to new elections.

Accusations, objections and conditions were again raised in the lobby of the Kosovo Assembly by representatives of political parties, immediately after the chairman of the session announced the closure of the proceedings, 15 minutes after they began. The possibility of holding new elections was also mentioned. 

Monday's meeting was the fourth to be held every 48 hours, since April 15. The representative of the LVV, Glauk Konjufca, the only one who came to the podium, informed the deputies that this entity is lagging behind the previous proposal for Albulena Haxhiu to be the speaker of parliament. Referring to the opposing position of other political entities, namely the impossibility for candidate Haxhiu to secure the necessary 61 votes, he proposed to start a round of consultations between political entities to overcome the deadlock. The Speaker of the Assembly did not put the LVV proposal to the vote at all. 

Commenting on the blockade, LVV MP Mimoza Kusari-Lila, after the end of the session, emphasized that if the parties continue not to vote for candidate Haxhiu, then Vetëvendosje will not vote for the deputy speakers of the Assembly either. 

"We do not see this process as something that should be taken for granted, which means: 'You do the numbers for the Speaker of the Assembly and then you vote for the Speakers of the Assembly'. No! If you want to have a constituted Assembly, we vote for the Speaker of the Assembly together, then we vote for the Deputy Speakers of the Assembly... The Rules of Procedure of the Assembly do not necessarily say that they are voted in a package, it says that they are voted and then as a procedure that has been applied so far. But, let's change that procedure - let's see how they are voting for the Deputy Speakers individually", said Kusari-Lila.  

Regarding the possibility of holding new elections, Kusari-Lila said that before there are consultations between parties, the Assembly must first be constituted.  

"We have no intention of blocking the formation of the Assembly, namely the constitution of the leadership, the president, the vice presidents of the Republic, but with these approaches that are being shown or are being barricaded by other parliamentary parties, we really need to agree on another topic: to call all political groups, to constitute the Assembly and to agree that with 80 votes we immediately dissolve the Assembly and go for new elections," said Kusari-Lila. 

And to pave the way for the constitution of the Assembly, PDK leader Memli Krasniqi asked the LVV to change the proposed name for the Speaker of the Assembly. He said that the LVV should try new names, but did not propose who his party would vote for.  

"The way out is clear, the Vetëvendosje Movement must choose another candidate and not hold the Kosovo Assembly, but also the future Government hostage, for any whim. Candidate Haxhiu will not have our support under any circumstances and at any time, she is a symbol of the failure of this government in the past four years. Her entire mandate has been accompanied by various scandals, from the disappearance of Dehar's samples to the reduction of the budget for the protection of liberators in The Hague", declared Krasniqi. 

LDK MP, Hykmete Bajrami, reiterated the position that her party will vote against any LVV candidate, while emphasizing that the election of the speaker differs from that of the deputy speakers of the Assembly. 

"The parallel that Mr. Konjufca is drawing with the case of the presidents and vice presidents of the Assembly is not at all correct, because the president of the Assembly represents the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, while the vice presidents are representatives of political groups and this is the reason why they are voted in packages. The president is a representative of the Assembly... they also ask the deputies to vote according to the will of the Vetëvendosje Movement and not according to their will, this is not just a will for political agreement," said Bajrami.  

And the leader of the AAK, Ramush Haradinaj, requested that another name be proposed for the speaker of parliament to get out of the current situation. 

"There has been negotiation for the speaker of parliament in the past. If the opposition's vote is needed, which happened to get the entire parliament to vote for the speaker, it makes sense to discuss the candidate with the opposition. A more consensual candidate than Haxhiu. We have given some opinions, if there were another candidate to vote for. We are open if the opposition and other parties want to find a way to go beyond the constitution of the Assembly," said Haradinaj. 

Unlike representatives of other parties, the president of NISMË, Fatmir Limaj, expressed expectations for a convergence of positions towards the formation of institutions. 

"A way forward must be found. I believe it was the correct stance. Ultimately, this is the way things work. Kosovo must have institutions. I hope that from today on, efforts will be made to get closer and give the opportunity for the formation of institutions," Limaj said. 

Monday's session was a continuation of the one that began on April 15. The first, and the second that was held two days later (April 17), did not produce any formal action, since the entities that were in opposition in the previous legislature (PDK, AAK and LDK) refused to vote on the report of the temporary Commission for the verification of mandates and quorum. They contested the form of the resignation of the Kurti Government cabinet, namely they considered it a violation of being both MPs, prime minister and minister. Only on the third attempt, on April 19, did the elected members vote on the report of the Commission for the Verification of Mandates. 

The continuation of the session must be held within 48 hours. The procedure is the voting of the Speaker and five Deputy Speakers of the Assembly. If there is no agreement between the parties to end this process, the sessions every 48 hours can be called indefinitely, since there is no constitutional deadline for the constitution of the Assembly, namely the election of its bodies.