Vjosa Osmani appoints Valdete Daka's successor to CEC

According to the announcement given by the presidency, Kreshnik Radoniqi is the new leader who replaces Daka and is judge at the Special Department of the Appeals Court.

“Judge Radoniqi, in 2006, graduated from the University of Pristina Faculty of Juridical, while he completed his master's studies in the US in 2013. The jurisdiction test ended in 2007. Mr. Radonic is named as a highly professional and impartial judge in decision-making. The appointment of Mr. Judge. Kreshnik Radoniqi as the new leader of the CEC will make sure that the integrity of the CEC is no longer damaged, and will enable the management of local elections based on the inclusion of voters on election day within and outside the Republic of Kosovo”, reportedly in the media-divided announcement.

The Central Election Commission is an independent constitutional body, and the responsibility to preserve the CEC's independence is first the responsibility of the Commission's chairman. The CEC leader does not come from the ranks of political parties, but his appointment is made with a special process, a fact which shows that the leader must be independent of his actions even when within the CEC there may be pressures from political subjects. In the recent election process, the CEC has been polarised, and decision-making meetings have been accompanied by tensions as never before. The CEC's chairman, in many cases, has failed to be an independent force against political polarisation and its decision-making to be governed by general public interest, which has thus violated citizens' integrity and confidence in the CEC. President Osmani estimates that the actions of the CEC leader should not be a cause for loss of civic confidence towards the institution, in particular after this year's local elections will be held”, the announcement said.