CEC approves recommendations for election reform, legal changes required

With 10 votes for, the Central Election Commission approved conclusions and recommendations issued by the workshop for lessons learned by local elections 2025 and early parliamentary elections 2025, opening the discussion of possible changes in the Law for General Elections and reforms in the election process, reports Online Economy.

CEC member Ilir Gashi said he supports recommendations in principle, but expressed reservations for proposals requiring constitutional changes and on the issue of the number of candidates on the list, stressing that these exceed the CEC's competencies.

The “actually basically supports the recommendations that we together worked on coming to these conclusions. I have some reservations on three issues that I actually consider are not in our domain. First, we have a recommendation that requires constitutional changes, which I believe is out of our domain and belongs to the lawmakers. And we know that the Kosovo Parliament cannot change the Law on Local Elections, let's not talk about constitutional changes where it refers to the requirement that the ballotes be in six years, not from 30 to 45, what is the actual constitution. The next issue is the number of candidates on the list. I also believe that we are an organ that manages the election process and belongs to political subjects. They are the main actors in the election process and decide whether to get 10 candidates, five or one. We cannot prejudge, I have reserve on this recommendation”, he said.

He stressed the need for focus on changes that can be made without legal interference, especially on electronic reading of balloting and electronic identification while proposing early voting for specific categories.

“Tect paper scan and optical reading of balloting, as well as the identification of voters in the mobile location, is very good as a recommendation and I believe that these two will be included in the work plan that we will soon have final. And then one point which, a proposal of mine that I don't see here, figures out. This does not mean that if we are going to have an attempt at legal changes, I will also address through the legal changes that is the early vote, which I consider that the Republic of Kosovo should have early voting separately for certain categories of our society, because this would then make a better electoral process in Kosovo and not face problems that are only repeated several times, especially for people with special needs, whether they know no writing-read or other categories of society. So, I have these resources as much as the approval of these recommendations and I'm believing that in other recommendations we, the leader, all of us should focus primarily on changes that sanction us to have changes in our domestic rules and jobs that we can do without legal changes. If there will be legal changes then there is another issue, but we can't keep those changes hostage, so we focus on what's most important, and the most important two are: electronic reading of the ballot and identification of voters in place with electronic procedures”, he said.

VV member Sami Kurteshi said the recommendations are the product of professional discussions and that the CEC is tasked with giving recommendations, whether they are mandatory or not, stressing the difference between professional recommendations and administrative requirements.

“We've had the possibilities to disk relatively over these issues and don't agree and agree, and that was good, but I think some good recommendations have been made. Maybe we don't agree in shades. We as a professional body have an assignment to make recommendations. One, that is, we make the external recommendations because on the inside, changing regulations we do it if we even agree and make it easy, we need to ask anyone. But as a professional body, every professional body is in charge of recommendation. The recommendation is not mandatory. Do they take the recommendations? Of course, we do them with clarifications and reasonings, both legal and constitutional. No one else is expected to be recommended as making professional troops that are faced with law enforcement and the constitution and regulations.

So in this regard, I think that in life reports, we have a duty, not to say that every time: we have no infrastructure, we have no building. It's not oil-recommunation, it's demand, complaint. Professional recommendation we have a task to do”, he said.

Meanwhile, LDK member Sami Hamiti explained that the document is the basis for the work plan and the annual plan that will be submitted to the Parliament, adding that each recommendation will be reviewed before proceeding, including those related to deadlines and eventual constitutional changes.

This is as a result of the workshop we've been holding for five straight days and saying we've done a very good job. These are collected and this is not a document that has to be published, it is a basic document for two elements now. One is the element for our work plan, and the other element is for the annual work plan we have to send to the Assembly. These too, what Mr. Kurteshi is saying, will be discussed in the work plan and regulation change and the many elements that Mr. Kurteshi mentioned will be assigned. Likewise, the part when the work plan is done and the annual work plan is delivered to the Assembly, then we will review each recommendation because it is not said that we have it right there. We'll discuss it in the work plan and they'll probably go as recommendations. On the other hand, will it change, fall from 10 to 5, to 3, and the other 60 days, I'm reminding you that in a working group that we've worked for election reform, we're mostly here. We have had this proposal from the EU observer mission, despite the fact that there is a moment of entry into constitutional change, but it needs to be done. Even this recommendation goes that if it is possible, it is known that without constitutional change, then it is not likely to be there even that it was seen to be viable”, he said.

At the same meeting, approval of the recommendation for the separation of funds from the Fund for Support of Political Subjects for 2026 was postponed. According to Office for Recording, Certificate and Financial Control of Political Subjections Besnik Buzhala, the recommendation was not finalised for technical reasons, but the budget remains around 4.8m euros, as it was last year.. /Periscopi/