Quit sessions: Only 22 laws adopted at a session

At the time the opposition unleashes the hall, sometimes power.

Kosovo Assembly deputies have long found no common language.

On Thursday this week were opposition parties who abandoned the session, as the ruling party, Vetevendosje Movement, opposed their proposal to discuss the strike of Trepca miners and Kosovo Police requirements.

Last Thursday, Vetevendosje left the session, as its request to discuss the remaining points of past sessions and then the opposition's proposal for the salary co-fficiency did not pass.

This 120-member legislature was constitutionalised on March 22nd of 2021.

The Kosovo Parliament's Information Office did not answer Radio Europe's free questions about adopted laws and those in the procedure, but organisations monitoring the work of the Assembly say a large percentage of them did not pass.

“Disco-operation of parliamentary parties and fleeing from the responsibility of MPs, abandoning sessions, could end with the failure of the Parliament's work”, says Arber Thaci, researchers at the Kosovo Democratic Institute (IDK) for Radio Free Europe.

According to him, at this year's spring Assembly session, which began in January and ended in August, 130 review bills have been planned, while only 22 of them have been adopted, or 17.13 percent.

Moreover, ratification of several international agreements remains pending, which, among other things, have to do with energy sector development, railway and heating lines, as well as scholarships for students.

According to the IDK, some of them, from April month, “have been held in 30 sessions of the Parliament”, but have not been adopted since the quorum, once in the absence of enough votes.

With the law in Kosovo, international agreements can only be ratified with the votes of 2/3 of MPs.

Blaming power on a series of issues, such as budget mismanagement and failure to co-operate with international allies, many opposition deputies pledged last month that they would not vote any international agreements until the country goes to new elections.

At the time, The REL has asked the Kosovo Parliament's Information Office what further steps will be or consequences from the disapproval of these agreements, but has not been answered.

“irrecoverable”

Naim Jakaj, a researcher at the Kosovo Institute for Justice (IKD), says that the failure to adopt international laws and agreements could bring irreparable consequences to Kosovo citizens.

“I'm mentioning a fact: We have an international agreement that has been processed in the Assembly agreement between the Kosovo Ministry of Education and the French Embassy in Pristina, dealing with several scholarships for students... The deadlines may pass, and later approval of this agreement may have no effect at all”, Jakaj tells Radio Free Europe.

According to him, MPs should be more active and professional in their work because, besides pay, they have other favors for participating in various activities.

An MP's basic salary in the Kosovo Assembly is 1,722 euros a month.

They benefit from attending committee meetings and working groups: 20 percent of their basic salary.

Five euros, meanwhile, were earmarked for daily expenses when they participated in the work of plenary sessions.

The maximum of 200 euros a month are also compensated for.

The regulation for additions on the basic wage for MPs has been approved in April of this year.

With the Kosovo Assembly's rule of work, meanwhile, the MP is in charge of taking part in the Parliament's work to benefit these revenues. For failing to participate in the session, the MP is not given additional compensation. / REL/