Rapajic: Constitutional Court decision least favorable to Self-Determination

Program Director of the NGO Advocacy Center for Democratic Culture in North Mitrovica Aleksandar Rapajic told Kosovo Online that the question submitted to the Constitutional Court by the Democratic Party of Kosovo was not related to the deadlines for constituting the Assembly, but rather to the procedures followed during its constitution. He argues that such a decision is least favorable to Self-Determination because of the timing of possible new elections.

Rapajic explained that the PDK’s appeal concerned the election of the Assembly’s Deputy Speakers, specifically the fact that the party’s candidate had not been elected, as well as the fact that a Government had subsequently been formed.

“The point is that the question the PDK submitted to the Constitutional Court was not related to the deadlines for constituting the Assembly, but to the procedures followed during its constitution. That is why the Constitutional Court responded that the Assembly was lawfully constituted, because the PDK’s appeal concerned the election of the Deputy Speaker—more precisely, the failure to elect a Deputy Speaker from the PDK—and the fact that the Government had been formed. They believed that the first issue should have been the election of the President. For that reason, the Constitutional Court did not even consider whether the deadlines for constituting the Assembly had been exceeded, but dealt only with these issues,” Rapajic said.

He noted that the Constitutional Court had, on the other hand, considered the deadlines relating to the election of the President of Kosovo and determined that the 60-day deadline, calculated from the first meeting of the Assembly, had to be observed.

“I think that, at this point, this is least favorable to Self-Determination. The deadline for electing the President is very short—less than 15 days. If no consensus has been reached so far, it is difficult to see one being reached within such a short period,” Rapajic said.

He believes that Self-Determination had planned to hold new parliamentary elections in late December, most likely on December 27, but that the deadlines established by the Constitutional Court could result in the elections being held earlier.

“On the other hand, in my view, Self-Determination had a plan to hold elections in late December, most likely on December 27. Now, with the deadlines specified by the Constitutional Court, it will be very difficult to postpone the elections until December 27. If the President is not elected, the elections will be held much earlier—by early December at the latest,” Rapajic concluded.