Haxhiu says she may turn to the Constitutional Court over her mandate if the country has no president

Acting President Albulena Haxhiu has said it is very important that meetings between political parties continue on the president issue, and warned she would turn to the Constitutional Court regarding her mandate if the country will not have a president after October 6.

Haxhiu recalled that only a few days remain before the deadline for electing the president expires, and that, according to her, after the September 16 verdict convicting the former KLA leaders, there is no reason for the country to go to early elections “in full awareness”.

“It is very important that meetings between political parties, with the aim of reaching consensus on the president issue, continue. We have very few days ahead of us, until October 6, so it is very important to have meetings that lead to a consensus on the president issue. In the circumstances we are in, I think it is a high priority to show will, and not, on the other hand, a lack of will or a tendency to drag things out, or to take the country again to early elections, also because of the September 16 verdict. There is no sense and no reason to knowingly take the country to elections. I invite the political parties to continue these meetings; as far as I am aware, they will continue soon. I hope that from these meetings we will emerge with a consensus on the president issue,” Haxhiu said.

Haxhiu said she is considering turning to the Constitutional Court — which, according to her, has taken on the role of writing the Constitution and is making articles that are not in the Constitution — to address her mandate in case the country has no president after October 6, as Kosovapress reports.

“As for my mandate, the Constitution does not speak about this issue; in reality it says that an acting [president] cannot stay more than six months. There have been different interpretations; they have mentioned the issue of the principle of institutional continuity and others like these. I expected that, since the Constitutional Court has taken on the role of writing the Constitution — that is, it is making articles without them being in Kosovo’s Constitution at all — I expected that in the latest Judgment they would also address this aspect, but they did not address it at all; they did not speak about this issue in any of its points. I am considering turning to the Constitutional Court on this issue, however I have not yet decided. I am waiting to receive a suggestion from my team that is engaged in this direction, so you will be notified in time about how I will act. I hope we do not come to situations where we have no acting [president] even after October 6. I hope we will have a president with a 5-year mandate,” Haxhiu said.

We recall that, if a new president is not elected by October 6, the country will go to early elections within 45 days, which would at the same time be the third in a row in less than a year, as Telegrafi reports.