Bugaqku: Basha violated the Constitution three times in the election of the deputy speaker from the Serb community

Vullnet Bugaqku of the Kosovo Democratic Institute stated that the new Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo, Dimal Basha, made decisions during yesterday’s continuation of the constitutive session that are contrary to the Constitution, Constitutional Court rulings on the constitution of the Assembly, and consolidated parliamentary practice in Kosovo.

Bugaqku said that the Constitution clearly stipulates that the three largest parliamentary groups nominate the first three deputy speakers of the Assembly, while two deputy speakers are to be nominated from non-majority communities: one from the Serb community and the other from other non-majority communities.

“However, despite this normative clarity, the Speaker of the Assembly acted against the Constitution, the Constitutional Court rulings on the constitution of the Assembly, and established parliamentary practice, because he did not respect the right of the parliamentary entity representing the Serb community to be the first to nominate a candidate for deputy speaker, as stipulated in Article 67(4) of the Constitution and Article 12 of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly. On the contrary, he invited representatives of entities from other non-majority communities to put forward the first nomination for deputy speaker,” he emphasized.

Bugaqku pointed out that the procedure of voting separately for each candidate nominated from non-majority communities was not only in contradiction with the constitutional requirement for voting, but also with a ruling of the Constitutional Court.

“The Court stressed the importance of respecting the procedures prescribed by the Constitution, the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, and established parliamentary practice, as a guarantee of the institutional legitimacy of constituting the Assembly,” Bugaqku stated in a Facebook post.

He also noted that Basha conducted a lottery procedure to determine and elect the deputy speaker from the Serb community without the consent or participation of that community.

“This step has no basis either in the Constitution or in the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly. Moreover, it contradicts the principles of parliamentary democracy and the guaranteed representation of the Serb community in the Assembly of Kosovo, thereby undermining equality among communities and the balanced functioning of the Assembly. Therefore, under these circumstances, the only way to restore legitimacy and respect constitutional hierarchy is to repeat the procedure of electing the deputy speaker from the communities, in line with the Constitution, the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, and established practice of constituting the Assembly,” Bugaqku wrote.