President Hashim Thaci violates Constitution

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci has failed to comply with his constitutional mandate on two occasions. He has chosen to quietly pass the resignations of two former municipal leaders, Mimoza Kusari-Lila in Gjakova and Rasim Selmanaj in Decani, although the Law on General Elections and Local Elections clearly defines what steps the president should take when the mayor of a municipality resigns.

Given these two laws, the head of state has had to announce early elections, despite the decision it had made earlier that local elections at the country level be held on October 22nd. So says Activress one of the connoisseurs of the Constitution, which supports his explanation in an earlier act that the Constitutional Court has issued on the occasion of the resignation of the former head of Rahovec, Qazim Qeska.

Constitutional judges, in 2010, responding to former president Fatmir Sejdiu's request in this case, had clarified that this municipality should go to early elections as stipulated by the law.

First of all, according to this expert on jury cases, the president has not had to deal with the consequences, as the Constitutional Court itself does. According to him, the consequences cause the resignations of the mayors and no one else.

Any mayor's resignation is final and defined and ends the mayor's mandate. The constitutional consequences of such action are to announce elections by the president of the Republic to ensure that citizens enjoy the right to free and equal elections in establishing their local self-government”, the Constitutional Court's act of law is said to be expressed.

Under law, the decision had to be made ten days after the resignations, and the date when early elections were to be held was not earlier than thirty days or later than forty days after the decision was made.

Resigns in July

Mimoza Kusari-Lila and Rasim Selmanaj have resigned in July, after they are scheduled to become parliament deputy of the Republic of Kosovo.

The law has not given them the right to hold both posts simultaneously.

For all this time spent together, I thank you from my heart and I inform you that we will be together officially until the call of the first Kosovo Assembly Constituent session, from which the date even officially withdraws from the commission of the Mayor for this government”, so he declared Kusari-Lila to an address to the citizens of Gjakova.

The president's call of the consisting session has been made on 24 July, which practically marks the end of Kusari-Lila's term as head of Gjakova.

One day later, Rasim Selamayna also offered her resignation.

“In the midst of interpretations that the mayor's mandate ends on the day of being a deputy or the day of the oath at the Constitutional session of the Republic of Kosovo Parliament, from today I resign from the post of president of the Decani municipality!”, Selmanaj has said publicly.

In this case, he has indicated that the chairman's “will, under law, carry out the deputy chairman, Sami Cacaj a man who has witnessed and dedicated his entire life to the freedom and state of Kosovo! ”

So has Kusari Lil.

She even showed citizens the guidance of the Ministry of Management of Local Power.

The commentary on which it reads: In this case, until the hold of local elections announced by the president of the Republic and to be held by date, October 22, 2017, when the mayor resigns it and replaces the municipality's deputy chairman, as envisioned in Law No. 03. L-040 for local self-government, Article 60, paragraph 60.3 where it stipulates that: “the chairman helps the chairman exercise day-to-day executive functions and acts on behalf of the president in his absence”.

Fexili posted by Mimoza Kusari-Lila

But this interpretation is not sustainable for concrete cases.

This is about resignation, not temporary absence of mayors.

The mayor cannot be appointed mayor by anyone except by the citizen vote.

Opposition Between Evils and Constitutional Decisions  

The expert on constitutional issues, Mazum Baraliu, however, considers the president has not committed violations that he has not declared early elections in Decani and Gjakova.

He's taken Sqaheraj's case as an analogy, where in absence of the mayor, the mayor of the municipality was the deputy leader.

Baraliu, cautions that in Kosovo there are objections between the Law for Elections and some other law, and sometimes even between the Constitutional Court's decisions.

The Constitutional Court decisions are ideas, they force us all to implement, so I don't comment on that. I just want to stress that there are many laws in Kosovo that are contrary to each other and there are some Constitutional Court decisions that have been taken over by”, Baraliu has said of Active Prees.

Even the other expert on constitutional issues, Xhavit Shala says the Constitutional Court's acts are binding on all to implement.

medically, according to him, we are now on the verge of the election campaign for local elections, and the president has already set the date for the elections.

“These cases of resignations if they were in the beginning of the year, then certainly they had to organise extraordinary elections”, Shala said of Activress.

The president under the Constitution has set the date for local elections. Also, in any case when the municipality's leadership post remains vacant, it is the municipality that announces, the Ministry of Local Power for such a thing and then, the government announces to the president. The president issues a decree to announce elections in that municipality of”, Shala added.

If the Constitutional Court act in the case of Rahovec was respected, then Gjakova and Decani would have elections in September.

Besides, candidates who have resigned could not run again for mayor of municipalities, as Mimoza Kusari- Lila has done in Gjakova. /Enables