Mimoza Kusari and Bekim Haxhiu crash at an investigative session

The list of witnesses to be invited to interview has sparked debate at the first Parliamentary Investigative Commission meeting in connection with the management of the COVID-19 pandemic by the Government of Kosovo.

The current Health Minister Armend Zemaj's call for reporting has not been backed by all MPs, while it has been said that this list would be expanded depending on the statements of those interviewed.

At the meeting of the commission's constitutionalisation, chairwoman Mimoza Kusari said the commission's work would begin with drafting the work plan. She made it known that they would ask the Kosovo Assembly for the budget needed for the functioning of the commission, while said experts who would also help them.

Kusari said that as the commission so far has two labour materials, the first said it is the draft and a letter of corruption from Parliament Speaker Vjosa Osmani, in which corruption has been described among acts in relation to the donation that has come to Kosovo.

She said that because management with pandemic is continuing, she has proposed in the draft of the work plan not only to be limited to the previous government, but also to the current one.

I requested that the investigative commission, because we haven't emerged from the pandemic crisis. In fact, the number of cases until the commission was established and we have now met the number of cases has increased day-to-day. As a result of this situation, the management of the pandemic caused by COVIID-19 and the proposal in the draft work plan not to limit itself to a decision-making related to a government, should continue in the process because the same procedure excludes the officially closed quarantined area, the procedure of package of economic recovery, management procedures and medical medicine is subject to discussion and must continue. Therefore, we jointly agree that political decision-makers will be on the list, as well, the word is that civil staff remains the same as current governance”, she said.

AAK MP Shumbin Demalija has demanded that New Health Minister Armendi Zemaj be invited to the commission, due to statements that there have been abuses by the feasibility minister.

“On the witness list I had wanted to be the new minister of health as a witness, because of his public statements of various abuses and to understand their authenticity, in what he has declared on Kosovo television. We are political troops regardless of whether we are position or opposition let the authenticity of the declarations be seen, despite having come to the top of the post after the new government's creation... be it public presentation, be it me, when I go out and say to a medium that I have found abuses and see high price figures ranging from 6 to 200 euros, not us as a commission, but that is where the prosecution should intervene immediately<1>, he said.

This has been rejected by LDK deputy Ekrem Hyseni, who said if the current minister's work should be assessed, the work of this commission should be suspended or another commission made.

“Ide to include the current minister's activity, I don't know how legitimate it is because we're dating that request was made three weeks before that minister arrived, and I never heard that parliamentary commission was made to assess the work of someone who came later. I think we should consider this. I think either the work of this commission should be suspended until the pandemic is complete and they do the full work or we should make a request for another commission in the future, but not with this commission, not with this structure and not with this decision”, he said.

The criticism for the list of people being invited for interview has been received by the deputy Bekim Haxhiu's PDK. He said the demand and initiative for this investigative commission has resulted from mismanagement and loss of a young man's life while in quarantine under state supervision.

You've put more doctors on the list than institutional manager in quarantine management. It is not our objective of investigating health personnel, because they have done the job responsible and committed themselves. The investigation is oriented by the institutional government carriers, those who were and those who are. We are interested in the legal basis for who wants to read the laws, the laws are in force, and we don't have to test a list of laws because the laws are. For any procedure, if we talk about a donation coming from Serbia, the law is known and envisions the way donations should come. The first one we have to interview on the witness list is the officials of the Health Ministry according to hierarchy, Minister Vitita and Deputy Ministers, the permanent secretary, the heads of the operational centre, the heads of the quarantine centre, the procurement manager, and then we go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs then”, he said.

Haxhiu said the investigation should be impartial and professional, until he added that he is not interested in making politics, but in becoming a final real report on the situation.

To MP Haxhiu's statement, the Commission's head, Mimoza Kusari, has reacted, who said the witness list could be expanded until she has accused her of doing politics.

I must officially not agree with you, Mr. Haxhiu, the first one you said that we're not here to make politics, but I think you made politics, because you agreed, you talked about abusive purchases, talked about expensive prices, talked about uncertainty in decision making, was naturally mentioned the tragic case of Agon Musliu's death in quarantine. I know in all of this that either there is a legal process which is within the prosecutor's framework for investigation or whether there is or as you claim, abusive purchases, at least we can agree to say allegations of abusive purchase”, she said.

As for the list of witnesses, Kusari said it is not finalised and that it could expand.

Bekim Haxhiu i The PDK, the chairman of the commission replied that it is not the commentator of their statements.

Haxhiu: You're just a commission leader, you're not a commentary on our speeches.

You're just a commission leader, and you're not a commentary on our speeches, and at least if you comment on our speeches refer to them as we said, I didn't say we don't need laws, I said the laws are in force even on certain issues any of the MPs who are on the investigative commission draw them out and read them and we don't need to list the laws. Second, as for the abusive drug purchase, you changed it, I said media reports on abusive drug purchases. So there were media reports on abusive drug purchase”, he said.

Parliamentary Investigative Commission on Management COVID-19 on the part of the Government of Kosovo has been voted June 4th, while there will be a mandate by December of this year