Ramadani warns of a criminal complaint against the acting President over the Auditor General proposal

Alliance MP Burim Ramadani has opposed the proposal to (re)appoint Vlora Spanca as Kosovo’s Auditor General, claiming that the procedure is contrary to the Law on the Auditor General, as Telegrafi reports.

Ramadani said that Law No. 05/L-055 does not provide for an automatic extension of the mandate and that appointing the Auditor General requires an open, impartial and transparent selection and interview process. The law also stipulates that the Auditor General is appointed by the Assembly, on the proposal of the President.

“The law does not allow an automatic extension of the mandate. Every appointment requires that the proposal be made after an open, impartial and transparent process of selection and interview,” Ramadani declared.

He also raised claims regarding the candidate’s fulfilment of the legal criteria, referring, as he said, to information from legally protected whistleblowers about a possible criminal investigation against her.

Ramadani announced that, in order to verify these claims, he has officially addressed the Special Prosecution of the Republic of Kosovo and the Basic Prosecution in Pristina.

The Law on the Auditor General sets out among the criteria for this position that the candidate must not be the subject of an investigation for committing a criminal offence, must not be under criminal procedure and must not have been convicted by a competent court of a criminal offence.

The Alliance MP also raised the issue of the acting President’s competences regarding the proposal.

“The process precedes the proposal, while decision-making belongs to the Assembly,” Ramadani said.

According to him, the last competition for the position of Auditor General was announced on 14 April 2021.

Ramadani called on the Assembly to reject the proposal and to request that an open procedure be conducted in accordance with the legal requirements.

Finally, he also warned of a criminal complaint against the acting President.

“I will file a criminal complaint against the acting President for a legal violation, on the grounded suspicion that she has committed the criminal offence of ‘Abuse of official position or authority’ under Article 414 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kosovo,” Ramadani declared.