Opposition with concerns and disagreements over draft Association status

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, and Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq, said the document is acceptable to them.

This document should provide a certain level of self-awareness to the Serb community in Kosovo.

He surrendered late to opposition parties in the country.

LDK: Serbia given right to Kosovo internal regulation

The deputy chairman of the Democratic League of Kosovo, Lutfi Haziri, says this party is still analyzing the document, but from what it has seen so far, the draft-state has “disturbing content” on certain points.

According to him, the document includes preamble referring to UN Security Council Resolution 1244, and at this point, he says, Kosovo and Serbia, as a party, are equal in issues pertaining to Kosovo TTY regulates.

This is one of the first problems. The second problem is the Arbitrazhi Commission, because the parties will have opportunity for a mixed joint composition. Thirdly, it is given to Serbia, as a party in the agreement, the right not only to Kosovo's internal regulation... it will also have mechanisms for permanent implementation... Of course there are other issues that we will eventually define”, Haziri says.

AAK: disturbing document

Alliance for the Future of Kosovo leader Ramush Haradinaj also voiced his concerns over the draft association status.

In an interview for Kosovo public broadcaster, RTK, he said the entire document is disturbing, and in particular the Arbitrazhi Commission as a way of resolving disputes.

According to him, at this point “by the power of any legal institution in Kosovo”.

How can we now flee the Constitutional Court or other courts in disputes between the parties and form troops who don't figure out either in the Constitution or in our laws or anywhere? It's also preambles. It is unnecessary and completely needs to be removed”, Haradinaj said.

He added that the contents of the draft association status entail a kind of distrust of Kosovo's central institutions in relation to local Serbs and vice versa.

Opposition response “without certain energy”

The recogniser of political developments in Kosovo, Arton Demhaja, tells Radio Free Europe that it agrees with concerns expressed by opposition parties. But, according to him, these parties should specifically and openly voice disagreement, as well as give opinions on what the points for which they disagree should look like.

We've seen only some opposition reactions, which are not completely right, as long as they don't have certain references and have no certain energy. The opposition, even when opposing a few points of a document, as is the case now with the draft state, has to come up with solutions and say: this doesn't make it that way, but it has to be this way”, Demhayan says.

Association competencies are the very reasons why Kosovo has been reluctant to establish it, even though the agreement with Serbia for it has been reached since 2013.

Kosovo's governments have repeatedly voiced concerns that its broad competencies could influence the functionality of the state.

In the draft state drafted by European officials, under which the possibility of financial support of association is clearly provided by Serbia, as well as an efficient and direct channel of communication between the Kosovo Serb community and the Government of Kosovo through the Ministry of Management of Local Power”.

The part of the draft Association status that refers to its competencies specifys that this organ has the right to adopt decisions, regulations, instructions and statements. There are also full competencies over the local level, in the areas of economic development, spatial planning, health, education and protection of cultural and religious identity respectively.

In part on relations with central power it is said that the association will not violate or bypass the constitutional and legal authorities and their competencies, as well as in no way violate constitutional and judicial relations between central and local governments, during the fulfillment of its goals.

It adds that the association has the right to initiate or be a party to procedures before courts, including the Constitutional Court of Kosovo, if any institution's decisions or actions influence the exercise of its competencies in accordance with the statute.

If the two sides have disagreements about his statute or interpretation, which cannot be resolved through direct negotiations, they should refer to the Arbitrazhi Commission, which establishes the rules of the procedure itself.

The Kosovo government declined to comment on the draft status in question, but REL sources in Brussels confirmed it is one of the latest drafts.

The constitution could not “irate the document”

According to opposition representatives, whenever the Government of Kosovo makes decisions on the final draft of the Association statute, the logical course is for that document to go for assessment at the Constitutional Court.

Haziri says that the Constitutional Court -- no matter what its assessment is -- cannot change the statute of Association, but can only suggest whether it is in the constitutional spirit or not.

It [the Constitutional Court] will have its word anyway. But it cannot renegotiate [the association status] or turn out with another stance towards an international agreement agreed on by the parties. This is the logical course that is expected to happen...”, Haziri points out.

But the AAK leader, Haradinaj, said the Constitutional Court's assessment should be made for any article in the draft association state, as well as to establish where there is disagreement with the Kosovo Constitution.

“E we have taken a public pledge from Americans and from [EU] mediators that it will not change the Constitution of Kosovo, sovereignty, territorial integrity... okay. Then our judges are performers. Let them show where it is overcome or where it is compatible with our Constitution. But, they should consider”, Haradinaj said.

Demhayan expresses the opinion that the assessment of the final document for the Constitutional Court Association statute is expected, but it will not change the document as a fact.

I think that the fact that that document is not being published [officially] and that that that document is not being discussed in public, as an official document, suggests that all issues that may be Disutual will be regulated. Then, when all those issues are settled, it will be published. Then, the Constitutional Court will only be sent to face-to-face, to say it went to Constitutional Court”, Demhasaj says.

Representatives of the LDK and AAK also say that the draft association status is the product of the agreement, according to them Kosovo's <x0 bad”, for normalising relations known as the Ohrid Agreement.

In view of this agreement, the international community has increased pressure on Kosovo to establish the Association of Serb majority municipalities, while on Serbia to recognise de facto Kosovo. /rel