Maliqi: A good and responsible decision by the Constitutional Court to break the deadlock

Political analyst Shkelzen Maliqi assessed that the new decision of the Constitutional Court is good and responsible, making it clear that the constitution of the Kosovo Assembly must proceed according to the Rules of Procedure, that is, with a public vote to elect its speaker. He added that this decision has put everything in its proper place, so that the Assembly can move forward with its formation, followed by the formation of the government, which, in his words, represents a way out of the deadlock.

Maliqi noted that, regarding the method of voting for the speaker of parliament, the Constitutional Court had stated the same thing in its first decision, that the speaker must be elected by public vote, but that the new ruling has clarified this.

“The Self-Determination Movement had a convincing lead; it is the strongest party with 48 seats, but it was unable to secure a majority, form a government, or elect the speaker of the Assembly, so it resorted to tactics to buy time. They probably calculated that they could merge the local elections with early parliamentary elections. In its earlier decision, the Constitutional Court said the same thing it is saying now, just in more complicated language. Now it has stated more clearly that voting must follow the Rules of Procedure. It started with open voting, and it should continue that way. The clause they introduced to switch the vote to secret is now void, all sessions are invalid, and the process should continue. The first party should propose a candidate, but it cannot endlessly repeat the same proposal. Whether it will be the same or a different candidate, we’ll see, but usually parties reach agreements, the whole Assembly votes, and every vote matters,” Maliqi said.

According to him, this decision has unblocked the process of constituting the Assembly. He expects parliament to be formed soon, followed by the formation of the government, where, he says, the process is clear. If the caretaker prime minister and  Self-Determination Movement leader Albin Kurti does not secure a majority, the mandate to form the government will go to Bedri Hamza from the Democratic Party of Kosovo.

“Now everything has been put in its place so the process can move forward. I assume the Assembly will be constituted, that they will have to propose another candidate if Albulena Haxhiu is not elected, and then proceed to forming the government. Kurti will again have to get the mandate, that is clear, but if he fails to secure a majority, the procedure moves on and the other party takes over – in this case, Bedri Hamza,” our interlocutor added.

He emphasized that the new decision also introduced a time limit and the possibility of voting for the same candidate up to three times, and welcomed the fact that the court recognized  Self-Determination’s “game.” He described the court’s ruling as a roadmap for exiting the deadlock.

“The Constitutional Court understood that it must state things clearly – some elements were added, such as the deadline and the three-attempt rule... This is written nowhere, but the Constitutional Court is the authoritative body, and it realized that everything the Self-Determination Movement was doing was a game, and that they could keep this situation going for two years, which makes no sense. I think this is a good and responsible decision, and that we must get out of this deadlock,” Maliqi concluded.