Efficient Convention in 2022, but opposition criticises power for poor law content

The Kosovo Assembly has had a good performance in lawmaking during 2022. A total of 102 laws were passed last year by the people of choice. However, opposition parties criticise the majority for their content, naming it the worst they have ever come to the Assembly.

On the other hand, MP work monitors suggest that the legislature has been scrapped last year, due to lack of quorum, lack of parliamentary debate and parliamentary supervision of Government and other institutions.

The head of the Vetevendosje Movement parliamentary group, Mimoza Kusari-Lila, says of KosovaPress, that last year the Assembly has adopted 102 laws, while 49 bills are in regular screening procedure.

While presenting the Parliament's successes over the past year, it also acknowledges the problem of hearing break due to the lack of MPs.

“Keeping hearings has been on a regular frequency, but that we rightly accept criticism from both the international community, but civil society that is pointless for MPs who receive the MP's mandate and there are situations when they have to stop hearings in the absence of quorum, whether it is not the opposition vote, or whether it is not following the number of present MPs... The year 2022 can be said to have been a successful year, including the opposition, since in numbers and votes, we have not all agreed on international agreements.

There are over 18 deals that were voted in 2022... We've addressed one of the chronic problems, not to say acutely, since it's repeatedly presented in the Progress Report, but it's also counted as a necessity for changes in public administration reforms and also with literal wage regulations in the public sector”, says Kusari-Lila.

However, the MP The PDK, Hajdar Beqa, says that despite the high percentage of laws adopted in the Assembly, their content has been poor, even most of them being adopted by avoidance of procedures or extraordinary plenary sessions.

“The framework will be higher than last year, and in content I think it will be weaker, since you can't make any good changes in haste, because you have to include other interest parties... The opposition has its own role, as far as we've always been in support, but in terms of our laws, we've had our positions, and we've supported them, but it's worth the current position that doesn't support the laws or the amendments that have been in the interests of society. As was the case of the T RUSS and many other laws”, he declares.

Critical for laws passed in the Assembly by the majority is LDK deputy Driton Selmanaj.

He says of KosovoPress, that the Kurti government has brought and adopted laws with the worst content in Kosovo's history of parliamentarians.

This political majority in Kosovo is bringing laws with the worst content in the history of Kosovo's parliamentarians. Perhaps the past has happened to be good, since most of us have received or consulted many international factors, but now every draft law coming to the Assembly -- generally, linguistically -- is potentially backwards, or badly written, or with very large spelling errors or with negative intentions behind them”, Selmanaj points out.

Meanwhile, AAK deputy Time Kadrijaj says the opposition has been correct with the majority in the Assembly, supporting international agreements.

According to her, the ruling party has behaved with the arrogance of numbers against the opposition by not supporting any initiative.

The “Oposit has been correctly shown by the majority. As you have seen, the opposition has supported a lot of bills even if it has ever been a simple 61 vote, let's not talk about voting all international agreements requiring two-thirds of the vote. We haven't blocked these processes... 24:41 always bring in the arrogance of numbers, except when they need it. We are making a constructive opposition, but you see that on the subject that Vetevendosje had been in opposition, he would have made topics and protested, as in the situation in the north, but seeing that it is a sensitive issue we have given alternative and support to”, Kadrijaj says.

In contrast, Arber Thaci from the Kosovo Democratic Institute (KDI) says the Assembly during 2022 has had busy agendas, but has chatted into failing plenary sessions due to lack of quorum.

“The Assembly has continued to slip into similar points last year, starting with lack of quorum, lack of MPs. In this regard, it is worth emphasising the boycott being made to the Parliament by Serb List deputies, a boycott involving 12 MPs. Another problem is the lack of parliamentary debate within parliamentary sessions or life. That is how parliamentary practice has very often ended up avoiding regular procedures or adopting accelerated parliamentary procedures”, he says.

During this year the Assembly has held a total of 56 sessions. The Assembly has held 14 parliamentary debates, three interventions and addressed 240 questions for the government. The parliamentary commissions have held a total of 466 meetings.

The legislature's spring session will begin in the third week of January. /kp