Gruda: Government adopted draft law on public officials contrary to Constitutional Action

The Justice Co-ordinator under the PDK's Cabinet for Good Governance, Progress Gruda, at a media conference has said today that, yesterday, the Government of Kosovo has adopted the Bill for Change and Fulfilling the Law for Public Officials without addressing constitutional violations.

What has happened is scandalous, because the Constitutional Court's act has not been implemented, is largely ignored by the Government. With Article 17 the Bill on Changing and Fulfilling Law No. 08/L-197 for public officials, the Government has put in place the provisions that determine that the lower and medium-level management positions will be with a four-year term, contrary to the Constitutional Court Act, which had determined that the appointments to these positions before the introduction of the basic Law to public official were not subject to the appointment by mandate, but hold their jobs under the appointments that have taken place<1>, Gruda said.

Further, he has quoted paragraph 3 of this law, which states: Civil servants appointed to low- and medium-class management positions prior to the law's entry into force are considered to be beginning the first mandate with the law's entry into force.

That makes no sense because the provisions of the basic Law for Public Official has declared the Constitutional Court constitutionally non-religious, and those positions cannot be considered by mandate. With this act, the Kurti Government wants to fill the state administration with its party militants, as it has done so far, to politicise it and to implement politics completely non-religiously and in full violation of the Constitutional Court's act on this case, Gruda has said.

He has said that numerous trumpetes for reforms in public administration have been forgotten, because they have been replaced by violations of the constitution and trends for apprehending public administration.

This is a new phase of violation of the Constitution of Kosovo by the Government, where even after the Constitutional Court ruling, unconstitutional provisions are included in the laws. A normal government would have to feel bad when it violates the constitution and not go a step further by failing to comply with the Constitutional Court's act, the CEC's Justice Co-ordinator has said.

Gruda has said the government thinks political institutions have authority over the tribunal in their constitutional decision-making, not vice versa.

“They want to subject the constitution and constitutional order to their political will and beliefs. The Democratic Party of Kosovo will not allow this arbitrators. If this law was adopted in the assembly with this restraint, we would send it to the Constitutional Court. We call on the Government of Kosovo to halt these unconstitutional actions, these attacks on the constitution and the constitutional order of Kosovo, and commit to public administration reforms, which Kosovo so badly needs”, has ended the Justice Co-ordinator for Progress Gruda.

In this conference, Gruda expressed concern by the Democratic Party of Kosovo over the new campaign of bans and raids that are holding Kosovo's Specialised Chambers towards former state officials, such as the last two days with Hajredin Kuci, Sami Lushtaku and Sylejman Selimi.

Kosovo has established Specialised Chambers to offer justice with European standards, rather than spectacles on its behalf. Above all, this persecutor campaign was spreading the failure of Specialised Chambers to argue their charges in judicial processes. The PDK urges Kosovo's Specialised Chambers to stop this persecution campaign and return to their work within their mandate and scope”, Gruda said.