Civil Society: Pull out initiative to change the General Election Law

Through a media communique, the Civil Society has called on the Vetevendosje Movement as the initiative of this legislative initiative to withdraw from the requirement for changing the General Election Law.

After praising that even in the event of the Parliament's failure to elect the president and in the wake of the announcement of extraordinary elections, implementation of the proposed changes would be in trouble due to short deadlines to make all necessary preparations for voting in Kosovo diplomatic and consular missions abroad.

This is the full response:

We, civil society organisations that we have long-term contributed to electoral reform taking place in Kosovo, and in this direction we have proposed numerous recommendations to improve the electoral process, both in terms of organisation and increased level of representation. Despite the need for the country to have electoral legislation reformed, this does not reason on the urgency it is trying to change the Law on the General Elections. Such an important process for democracy in the country should be comprehensive, with opposition participation and broad consultation with civil society organisations, the public and the end required the Venice Commission's opinion. Moreover, the proposed changes are monetary and do not address the shortcomings of this law. This should not be the approach to reform in general, since it is not serious and serves only narrow party interests.

Therefore, we call on Vetevendosje Movement as the initiative of this legislative initiative to withdraw from the requirement for changing the General Election Law. After even in the event of the Parliament's failure to elect the president and, as a result, announcing extraordinary elections, implementation of the proposed changes would be in trouble due to short deadlines to make all necessary preparations for voting in Kosovo diplomatic and consular missions abroad. The entire election process would thus be compromised. Such changes would have to be made at least a year before elections are held, as recommended by the Code of Good Practice for Election Affairs of the Venice Commission. At this moment, the entire focus of parliamentary political parties should be on serving the election of the new president.

Signatories:

Democracy Plus (D+)

Kosovo Democratic Institute (KDI)

Democracy for Development (D4D)

FOL Movement

Progress initiative (INPO)

Kosovo Institute for Justice (IKD)

Organisation for Democracy, Anti-Corruption and Dignience (Rise)