What competencies does the current Kosovo government have?

Kosovo, currently, has neither the Government in office nor the Government on the run, but executive with a regular constitutional mandate, say from the Kosovo Democratic Institute (KDI), arguing that current power has full competence, until the result of the February 9th parliamentary elections is certified.

Otherwise, they think in the Group for Legal and Political Studies (GLPS), where Albin Kurti's government is seen as a outgoing government with “limited to continuing jobs”.

Volnet Bugakku, senior researcher in KDI, tells Radio Free Europe that the laws -- such as the one for Government, Kosovo's Assembly Adjust and the country's Constitution -- link the regular government mandate with that of the legislature.

He claims the current government has regular mandates, as there is no distribution of the Assembly, nor the dismissal of its prime minister or resignation, to meet the first conditions by law for executives to limit current competencies.

So it can exercise its functions and competencies as a common government because it has not yet expired the legal mandate of this government. The legal mandate of this government relates to the situation when we end the mandate of the past legislature. This is related to the certificate of [election] result”, Bugakku says of REL.

Counting of fair votes has already ended, while prior to the certificate of results has remained the counting of conditional votes, of votes of persons with special needs, as well as of diaspora votes.

According to preliminary results, the Vetevendosje (LVV) Movement has won elections with 40.80 per cent of the votes won, a result that it cannot create Government itself. LVV leader Kurti says citizens expect his party to create new institutions.

Government responsibilities

The law clearly defines the competencies of the Government in general, but also those of the prime minister, ministers and deputy ministers. These include making decisions on specific issues, dismissal and appointment of officials, undertaking legislative initiatives, but also sending them to the Assembly, as well as launching international agreements.

Bulaq from KDI says that, despite the government's full powers by law, in this period it must have some kind of restraint and take care of “not to take actions that would produce consequences tomorrow for another” government.

Unlike him, Arbaret Loja-stubla, executive director of GLPS, says about REL that the government should not take any new initiatives. According to her, the government now only implements”.

The current executive, she says, should not submit bills, nor make new appointments.

But, Bulaqku claims that work in this period is not prohibited even from the Parliament, though, according to practices, he says, this institution suspends work during the election campaign.

The government held a regular meeting on February 26th and addressed 15 points where certain instructions were approved, people were appointed to certain positions, and funds were allocated for certain activities.

For Bugack, these actions are daily, managing the situation and not affecting the budget very much, while saying the executive has made a sort of restriction on decisions that would produce consequences for the new institutions.

GLSP has earlier told the REL that the government currently cannot proceed to the international convention.

Limitation of Powers

Kosovo's legislation mentions two types of governments, that with regular constitutional mandate and Government in resignation.

But terms like Government in Exile or Task often used in post-election periods are not presented in Kosovo laws, though they are part of the parliamentary practice of various states.

But how does the Government, with full rights, go into an outgoing executive, limit competencies?

This is not clearly defined in the Law on Government either, but the transition to the outgoing Government is done with the certificate of election results, they say by KDI, due to the government's mandate to the Assembly.

After that, Bugakk says it applies to restrictions that are put forward at Article 31 of the law involving Government in resignation.

It says the government has the right to adopt initiatives or sign international agreements, which require ratification of the Parliament, cannot adopt laws, strategies and concepts, nor can it propose candidates for specific positions, nor can it appoint people to public positions.

The current government is the first since Kosovo's declaration of independence, which has carried out its constitutional mandate.