Haxhiu against snap elections, criticizes Constitutional Court: It should not pander to parties

Kosovo Assembly Speaker Albulena Haxhiu has said political parties must find an agreement on electing the president, so that the country does not go to snap elections. She linked the need for institutional stability to the proceedings against former KLA leaders in The Hague.

Haxhiu said new elections would help neither Kosovo nor the former KLA leaders in The Hague. She made these statements after the first meeting of the presidency of the new legislature of the Assembly.

“By October 6, we must elect the president; if we do not elect him, then the country goes to snap elections. It is very important, especially because of the situation we are in, especially the reforms we aim to push forward, that each of us contribute so as not to send the country to elections, especially when we talk about the Hague process — we help neither the Republic, nor the citizens who are protesting peacefully, nor those who are in The Hague, if we with full awareness and without any hesitation send the country to elections. I think there is room for us to come together and put forward a name for president,” she said.

In addition to the possibility of snap elections, Haxhiu also spoke about the decisions of the Constitutional Court. She expressed concern about how the Constitutional Court has interpreted issues related to the functioning of institutions, claiming that in some cases it has created new norms.

According to Haxhiu, the role of the Constitutional Court is to interpret the Constitution and not to create new norms.

“The Constitutional Court surprisingly abandoned one of its judgments. As far as I know, the same reporting judge. What concerns me in this regard is that we have a Constitutional Court that creates new norms; that is not its mandate, with respect for the court’s independence, but you know very well that the role of the court is to interpret the constitution, not to create new norms. Let’s go back to last year: the court said the assembly speaker cannot be proposed more than three times — this is written nowhere in the constitution. It also said the vote must be open — that is not written either — or that the constitution of the assembly must take place within 30 days, and here please pay attention: if the president calls the constitutive session on the 30th day, then the deputies only have that day to constitute it,” she said.

Haxhiu said the Constitutional Court should not “pander to” political parties, asking that its decisions be part of public debate.

“As the head of an important institution, I am very concerned about the way the court handles cases. The Constitutional Court is not an institution that should pander to political parties. If we have erred, say so. But doing VV and PDK a small favor here, closing an eye here, opening it there. This is a very serious matter. We cannot allow such decisions to go without debate. I have also seen debates by jurists and experts, so regardless of the fact that the court has considered the assembly constituted and the government in compliance, I am very concerned about its approach. Its responsibility is only to interpret the constitution,” Haxhiu said.