Resignation as a moral act

The fight against the crime of corruption in 2022 was replaced by the fight for protagonism in the justice system. The executive came with the main promise - full vetting in the justice system. But this promise was eventually realized that it would not be implemented in this mandate

The Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, in 2023, if Kosovo was the state where it claims to go, she would not be in charge of the digaster that she now leads. At least for two cases that happened in the year we are leaving behind, she would have to offer moral resignation. With this act that she did not do, it would show that the governance of the Vetëvendosje Movement is different from the previous ones and it would also show that this country is on the right track.

The Vetëvendosje movement has had as its first priority the clarification of the case of the death of its former activist, Astrit Dehari. This party has continuously said that Dehari was killed by the authorities in Prizren prison. Then, on the eve of the sixth anniversary of his death, the Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, once again criticized the work done by the Kosovo Prosecutor's Office in clarifying the case of the activist of the Vetëvendosje Movement, Astrit Dehari.

Through a post on Facebook, Haxhiu wrote that the circumstances surrounding Dehari's death are a mystery due to the inaction of the Prosecutor's Office. It was the Minister of Justice herself, Albulena Haxhiu, who some time later announced the news that the samples of Astri Dehar from the Toxicology Laboratory have disappeared.

"In the morning, I visited the Institute of Forensic Medicine and was informed as follows: there were 15 blood test tubes, 1 urine test tube and one urine test tube in the test tube holder. This institute gave two blood samples to the Swiss Institute and one to the police for DNA. Currently, according to the information, 12 test tubes with blood, one of urine and one of urine are missing.

Only 3 people have access to the place. Only 3 people have the keys", she said. For this case, four officials of the Institute of Forensic Medicine were suspended from work. Their disappearance was considered intentional by the opposition, accusing the executive of being unable to solve this case. The opposition also demanded the resignation of Minister Haxhiu.

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Even if the opposition did not demand her resignation, Minister Albulena Haxhiu for this scandal that happened to the ministry she leads would have to do it herself. She was one of the main figures of the ruling party, who, when she was in the opposition, declared that when they came to power, this case would be treated with high priority. However, the case is not that it was not treated like that, but most likely after the disappearance of the samples, it seems that this case will be closed never to be solved.

Although in Kosovo we have had rare cases when government officials have offered moral resignation, there are many such in the world. In the United Kingdom, Liz Truss resigned as Prime Minister after only 45 days in office. In her last speech, Trus declared that she is leaving because she is unable to fulfill the promises with which she came to power. I know that it is too much to ask for such a standard in Kosovo, but at least we should take examples from the countries that we follow as examples.

However, this is not the only case when Minister Haxhiu would have to do such a thing. The murder of two women by their husbands within ten days at the end of 2022, and especially the case of the 35-year-old woman who had gone to give birth to her baby at the Gynecology Clinic at KKUK, and who was killed a few hours before the time when she was supposed to be admitted in the operating room to deliver the baby boy she was expecting was another occasion when responsibility would have to be taken. This was not the first time that in Kosovo, in 2022, a woman was killed even though she had a protection order, but that the officials did not do their job to protect them. Reactions and protests are not enough, with the same content and usual slogans after every murder, but without concrete actions. Also, it is not enough to suspend some officials to show that this country is really going in the right direction. We should not covet the chairs of the ministers, but the change should start from the top.

The Minister of Justice, despite the many campaigns she did, failed to pass one of her biggest projects in the Assembly of Kosovo. Haxhiu failed to convince even the deputies of his party to vote for the Civil Code. Its disapproval was said to have serious negative consequences in many aspects of the lives of Kosovo's citizens and businesses, as well as in the overall economic development of Kosovo. Although I promised that he would return soon, such a thing did not happen.

The fight against the crime of corruption in 2022 was replaced by the fight for protagonism in the justice system. The executive came with the main promise - full vetting in the justice system. But this promise was eventually realized that it would not be implemented in this mandate.

From the full vetting, the Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, started to talk about the partial vetting that will be done to the leaders of the prosecutor's offices and courts, as well as the councils of the prosecutorial and judicial system. In the middle of December, the constitution of the ad-hoc Commission was made for the development of the transitory evaluation process, or known as the vetting process in the justice system. There, everyone agreed that they should start working to make the action plan until the Constitutional Court comes out with its assessment. Although he received the support of all parties, he was told that the policy must seek a form to ensure the vote of the Serbian List as their votes are needed for the approval which must be done by 2/3. The Ministry of Justice, however, made some changes to the Criminal Code that provide that those convicted of domestic violence will be barred from running for public office for 3 to 10 years, but it is not known if these changes will pass the Court's filter Constitutional.

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Another thing we will remember from 2022 is the long-distance controversy between Minister Haxhiu and the Prosecutorial Council and the Judicial Council, as to who is fighting corruption the most. The Minister of the Government was often accused of interfering in the justice system. The revolt between these two institutions culminated when the executive made a decision to reduce their salaries. This has caused many court hearings to be suspended for a while and many citizens remain without services.

What remains for us as citizens is to hope that the year 2023 will be better in all areas of life, as well as in that of justice, and also to have as few scandals and failures as possible.