GLPS: Political parties not running people with charges, problems with law

GLPS project manager Liridon Salihi told EO that political subjects must ensure that candidates for MPs do not have active charges or problems with personal integrity.

“As GLPS, we appreciate the fact that each of the political parties, which will compete in the February elections, should take into account the fact that candidates who do not have problems with the law should be included on their election lists. So, since all these political parties are called into terms of rule of law and institutional integrity, it is important that the electoral lists for these elections do not contain or have candidates who have problems with the law at the same time and are elected as representatives of the people within the Republic of Kosovo's Assembly. So what's important is that to ensure a process of integrity, an electoral process of integrity, and to ensure that we have a Parliament that contains within ourselves MPs with integrity, it is important that in these electoral lists that political parties will not include persons who have legal bans that are set forth with the Law for Elections, or even that they have some established act, or that they have problems with their personal integrity. So all of these are elements which then even determine the issue of the integrity of the entire election process in our country”, he said.

He has recalled that in past legislatures there have been deputies with legal problems, which, according to him, has damaged the image of the Parliament.

Unfortunately, in most legislatures, not to say in all past legislatures in the Republic of Kosovo, we had elected deputies who also had problems with the law, so they had active acts or were also convicted of criminal acts. And so we said this affects the very integrity of the electoral process, but it also shows a poor mirror for the Republic of Kosovo itself, as laws that concern the rule of law, with institutional integrity, and also with fighting corruption cannot be positive if a person who has problems with the law himself is also representative or is part of the legislature. So even in the past G The LPS has called on that election lists not to have candidates having problems with the law, but unfortunately it has happened that in past legislatures we have deputies who have spent some time in the Assembly while another period has been spent in courts, respectively, in court processes when they were accused of various criminal acts, including corruption”, he said.

Salih has added that parties should set clear filters for the integrity of candidates before submitting the lists to the CEC.

So it is important that each candidate, even each MP elected in the 11th Parliament legislature of the Republic of Kosovo, meet the same criteria for professional and personal integrity, as well as to be clean in terms of criminal terms in relation to it. So that there is no accusation about it, no more that there is no trial that is continuing. This should also be done for the fact that these deputies if elected in the 11th legislature then the issue that could be possible so that they can also influence judicial decisions, which we know one of the GLPS findings in reports that we have particularly monitored in corruption cases, has been that the courts generally housed people who had a public background or who were senior officials, including the deputies of the Republic of Kosovo Parliament. Therefore, in order to avoid all these circumstances, it is good for political parties themselves to first make this filter that their candidates will not have a criminal past or have problems with the law, and therefore MPs who are elected by these parties and who are part of the Republic of Kosovo's Assembly to be full integrity-free deputies with problems with law”, he said.

He also criticised parties that, according to him, speak of fighting corruption while running people with problems with the law.

“One of the messages given to the public is the question of how to call political parties in fighting corruption, in the rule of law when within them, within their MPs or parliamentary groups have deputies who have problems with the law, or who are also accused of criminal acts related to corruption. So, what is promoted in terms of fighting negative phenomena such as corruption and other criminal acts translates into what these political parties themselves give space to these candidates, these MPs, to be part of both the Parliament, but also the parliamentary groups they represent within the” legislature, he said.

Early parliamentary elections in Kosovo will be held on June 7th 2026, as Kosovo's Assembly failed to elect the new president/ president within constitutional terms.

The deadline for handing over candidate lists to MPs at the Central Election Commission expires on 12 May 2026. /Periscope