Pavkovic: The court is delaying its response to the Serb List appeal to avoid further destabilization

The Director of Strategy at the European Policy Center in Belgrade, Milos Pavkovic, believes that the reason why the Constitutional Court has still not issued a decision on the Serb List’s appeal regarding the election of Nenad Rasic as Deputy Speaker of the Kosovo Assembly is that the court is being cautious and trying to postpone its response so as not to become a factor that could further destabilize the political situation in Kosovo.

According to Pavkovic, the court is closely following the political situation and its potential outcomes, which is why it has not yet reacted. He assumes that the judges are deliberating among themselves and that there is no unanimity on the matter.

“It seems to me that the Constitutional Court’s position is to wait for the outcome, to see whether a new government will be formed or whether new parliamentary elections will be called. If new elections are held, this issue will fall into the background amid the new election campaign and the redistribution of political power,” Pavkovic told Kosovo Online.

In the event that the President of Kosovo again grants a mandate to form the government to a candidate, and the court issues a ruling during the 15-day period that the candidate has to present their cabinet, declaring that the election of the Serb Deputy Speaker of the Assembly was unconstitutional, Pavkovic notes that the entire process would have to go a step back.

“In that case, it would have to be declared either that the Assembly was not properly constituted or that a new vote for one Deputy Speaker must be held. However, the Constitutional Court is also weighing the fact that even the nine MPs from the Serb List did not receive a majority when voting for the Deputy Speaker from the Serb community. Therefore, the Court is likely taking into account that such a ruling could trigger another political crisis. Taking everything together – the absence of a government and the looming possibility of early elections – it seems to me that the Court is trying to delay its response so as not to become a factor that further destabilizes the political situation in Kosovo,” Pavkovic explained.

The most important reason why the Constitutional Court should eventually issue a definitive ruling on this matter, Pavkovic points out, is that a similar situation could very well repeat itself after the next parliamentary elections.

“There is a clash between two important principles here – one that requires a majority vote in the Assembly, and another that requires consultation with the strongest minority Serb party in parliament when electing the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly,” he emphasized.

To recall, on October 16, Serb List Presidency member Igor Simic filed an appeal to the Constitutional Court on behalf of ten MPs regarding the election of Nenad Rasic as Deputy Speaker of the Kosovo Assembly from the Serb community, stating that the election was illegal and that the Deputy Speaker representing the Serb people was imposed by the regime of Albin Kurti.