Miftaraj: Today the parties violated U.S. demands for political points

The Director of the Kosovo Institute of Justice, Ehat Miftaraj, stated that by failing to certify the Serb List, the political parties violated the demands of the United States in order to score political points.

“Patriotism means respecting the Constitution, democratic values, and the principles that the Republic of Kosovo represents. There is no greater patriotism than promoting Kosovo’s strategic interests through preserving and maintaining bridges of cooperation with the United States of America and European Union countries,” Miftaraj wrote on Facebook.

He added that today the United States demanded the implementation of Kosovo’s Constitution, the election law, and the organization of elections in a democratic manner.

“Today, through political parties, the CEC is violating the demand of the United States in pursuit of political points, playing the card of patriotism while breaching Kosovo’s Constitution and applicable laws. For your information: under the Constitution of Kosovo, the laws in force in Kosovo, and the opinions of the Venice Commission, a political party may be restricted from participating in elections only through judicial proceedings, whereby a court decision declares that a political entity has violated the constitutional order of the country,” Miftaraj stressed.

He further noted that a political entity registered as a political party under Kosovo law — even the Serb List, which works day and night against the interests of Kosovo — cannot be denied the right to be certified as an electoral participant through an administrative decision of an administrative body in an administrative procedure.

“By these actions in the name of patriotism, you are seriously damaging the foundations of the state of Kosovo, democracy, and the relations and trust of friendly states in the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo,” Miftaraj concluded.