Enver Hasani: Thaci not allowed to lead the dialogue without Parliament's approval

Hashim Thaci's adviser, Bekim Colak, today said the president has mandated by the Constitution to lead with foreign policy.

There, he also introduces dialogue with Serbia in Brussels.

Despite the ongoing disputes, Colak insists the Constitution allows the president to lead with the dialogue process, even without the permission of MPs.

The president does not need any additional mandate from any other state institution, including parliament. So, of course, the president will continue to represent Kosovo and lead the process of dialogue on normalising relations with Serbia at every next meeting, whenever he is called by the Moghrin mediator”, he has said.

But, Enver Hasani in a response to Periscopi explains that the legally binding agreement affects issues from Article 18.1 of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, for which the president and government have no competence.

And such an agreement is expected to be reached between Kosovo and Serbia in the final phase of the dialogue.

According to Hasani, Thaci has no mandate to reach such an agreement.

Hasan for Periscopi says the dialogue that ends with reaching such an agreement requires new mandate from the body representing the sovereign, the Assembly of Kosovo.

According to him, all segments of dialogue with Serbia concern the nature of the state of Kosovo within and in relation to the world.

Hence, it says that this nature cannot be determined by the president of any other organ on the basis of existing constitutional competencies because they do not have such a right.

In other words, this is not about representation of Kosovo, but dialogue about re-defining the nature of the state of Kosovo in its relations with its citizens and with the outside world. This dialogue is expected at the end to be sanctioned with a legally binding agreement. That kind of legally binding agreement cannot connect the president or the government because it is not in their constitutional mandate, but only the organs and actions specified with the specific decision of the sovereign representative, the Kosovo Assembly”, said in Hasan's response to Periscope.

He cites three fundamental judicial-covetous bases, which he says defines the National Constitution as arguing his clarification for representation in foreign policy.

“In each democratic state, the National Constitution defines fundamental judicial and constitutional foundations for the following issues: definition of constitutional and legal acts in the sphere of external relations; participation of these acts in the creation and implementation of foreign policy; and international relations of the state as a whole. International relations include issues related to international agreements (their connection and implementation) -- international representation and the establishment of war and peace. Three of these competencies are divided between the constitutional organs (presidence, assembly and government). None of them can act alone. This is because foreign policy, including the top three competencies, has two phases: the phase of the definition and implementation phase”, explains Hasani in his response to Periscope.

In dialogue with Serbia, Hasani says the contentious issue is not whether the country's president has the right to act as Kosovo's representative in Kosovo's relations with abroad, because this preliminary is part of the nature of the head of state office.

But, according to him, the contestant is whether the country's president has the right to lead concrete dialogue with Serbia, which is quite different from representation as a constitutional category.

“There is no constitutional provision that allows Kosovo's organs, president or government to enter into dialogue with another state called the Republic of Serbia over issues related to territory (set of border with Serbia), constitutional status and personal and territorial autonomy of Kosovo citizens of the Serb community (the issue of association and its competencies), as well as the definition of Kosovo membership in international organisations (Serbia's permission for Kosovo membership and recognition mutually under specific conditions). These are issues related to determining Kosovo's foreign policy, in which three central institutions and other non-state activists must be involved, Hasani explains.

It is unlikely that the president will get enough votes, if MPs vote whether he should lead the political level in the dialogue process for normalising relations with Serbia.

He has no support either of the ruling coalition parties.

Initiative officials have repeatedly stated that Thaci is not a unifying human for leadership of the final phase of dialogue with Serbia.

Against Thaci at the top of the negotiations, opposition parties have also indicated that he is willing to jeopardise the state of Kosovo to survive politically./Periscopi