VV scenario for tomorrow session, Rexhaj: The candidate will be Haxhiu, if chosen 3 times, we discuss the group

After more than three weeks of pause, Kosovo Assembly deputies will again attempt the institution's constitutionalisation on August 20th, from 11:00.

This step comes after publishing the Constitutional Court's decision, which ordered the election of the chief parliament within 30 days of open voting, determining that the candidate could only be voted three times and that all MPs should participate in the vote.

However, chances of success seem slim.

The Vetevendosje movement again insists on Albulen Hadziu, while the opposition until then shows no willingness to compromise.

Recognition of constitutional issues warns that failure could lead the country into a new institutional situation.

Haxhiu again

In the continuation of the session on August 20th, the Vetevendosje (LVV) Movement will again propose Albulen Haxhiun for Kosovo Parliament Speaker, party deputy Arber Rexaj confirms, for Radio Free Europe.

If within three times, Mrs. Haxhiu is not resolved, we will certainly discuss the future action within the parliamentary group”, he says.

Rexhaj recalls that incumbent Prime Minister and LVV leader Albin Kurti has promised that he will respect the Constitutional Court's decision, but expresses concern over the restrictions she has imposed -- a candidate for Parliament chairman could only be proposed three times.

According to Rexhaj, this decision displaces the power of the proposal -- if LVV fails to elect the president within the 30-day deadline, the right to proposal passes to the other party.

He warns that this could reform the political will of Kosovo citizens, who in recent elections voted LVV with 42.2% of the vote”.

What are the positions of opposition parties in the past legislature?

Unchanged.

In the Democratic Party of Kosovo, they say they will not vote for Haxhi.

MP Blerta Deliu-Codra explains the PDK stands by its stance not to support any of the names that have been part of the past government, led by Albin Kurti.

The “are over 40 [LVV] deputies who can open the way. Also, the AAK has proposed two names [Sanda Bogujevci and Albanian Selimi from LVV], and they would receive deputies' votes”, Deliu-Codra says, adding that compromise is now expected by the Vetevendosje Movement.

The Democratic League of Kosovo also remains opposed to any LVV candidate for chairman of the Parliament.

Party deputy leader Lutfi Haziri says LDK deputies will take part in the vote, as imposed on the Constitutional Court's decision, but that their vote will be against LVV candidate.

“Co-operation, in our case, should mean political agreement. If a broad concession is not achieved for a process, for the proper name, cooperation lies in political agreement. This belongs to the first party [ LVV]”, Haziri says of Radio Free Europe.

Similarly, neither will the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo support Haxhi.

MP Time Kadrijaj explains that after Haxhiu's three proposals, any vote by AAK will depend on the other candidate the LVV can propose.

If any of the names we have suggested [Sanda Bogujevci and Albanian Selimi] are given or if there is someone who really deserves the vote, then we will vote. Otherwise, it will be the same” position, Kadrijaj says of Radio Free Europe.

She adds that the Constitutional Court's decision obliges MPs to participate in the vote, but stresses that each of them has the right to vote according to their beliefs.

According to her, there is no possibility of political agreement between the AAK and LVV as a condition for voting the proposed candidates.

What if the 30-day deadline is not respected?

Zahir Cherkini, professor of Constitutional Law at the University of “Isa Bolatini” in Mitrovica, told Radio Free Europe on 18 August that if Parliament fails to elect chairmanship and chairmanship within the envisioned deadline, a constitutional situation is created that requires institutional clarification.

Similarly, Volnet Bugakku from the Kosovo Democratic Institute says that if the 30-day term is not ignored, the Constitutional Court is obliged to clarify the legal consequences.

They, he says, could include receiving the mandates of current deputies and replacing them with the following candidates on parliamentary parties' lists.

Nor does it rule out the possibility that, as a result of non-compliance of the Parliament within 30 days, the Constitutional Court will review and clarify the possibility of organising new elections.

Bugqaku says the main responsibility initially falls on the winning party, Vetevendosje Movement, which should try to reach compromise with other parties to propose a candidate for the top parliament, which gets at least 61 votes.

If Haxhiu's name fails to get the necessary majority and LVV proposes another candidate, responsibility falls on all MPs, he says.

“The court is demanding a kind of double responsibility and a kind of double balance of the Assembly arrangement within the 30-day term, stressing that it is the obligation of all MPs to vote to elect Parliament Speaker”, Bugakku says of Radio Free Europe.

He adds that LVV's concerns that the right to the proposal could pass a second party are based.

This right can only change into a situation if the largest parliamentary group misuses the right to the nomination for the Parliament's chairman, as an opportunity to block the constitution of the”, Bugack says, stressing that other parties should also be cautious, since refusing to candidacy without reason, makes them responsible for disrespecting the Constitutional decision.

The failure to implement a Constitutional Court act is equivalent to the failure of the Constitution”, Gzim Shala of the Kosovo Institute for Justice states.

In a statement issued on 19 August, the Kosovo Presidency said the quickest constitutionalisation of the legislature “is state emergency”. / REL/ Periscopi/