Surlic: Quite a “creative approach” by the Constitutional Court of Kosovo, new decision could paralyze the parliament

Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade, Stefan Surlic, assessed that the Constitutional Court of Kosovo has so far had “quite a creative approach” to resolving the institutional crisis, and that a possible new decision could lead to paralysis in the formation of parliament.

“This would lead to even greater paralysis of the process because the idea of secret voting exists precisely because the Self-Determination Movement hopes that through some secret agreements it can secure a sufficient majority and have their nominated candidate elected as Speaker of the Assembly. If the entire procedure is sent back to the beginning, that essentially means the process could go on indefinitely and there may be an interpretation that this restarts a new 30-day period that must elapse. Of course, we are entering a legal gray area, but even so far, the Constitutional Court itself has taken quite a creative approach in its interpretations and has drawn conclusions that are not really based on the letter of the Constitution or the law,” Surlic told Kosovo Online.

Hence, in his view, the new initiatives for assessing constitutionality are entering an “undefined” space.

“We are entering a completely undefined space where, above all, it depends on political pressure what the final decision will be,” Surlic believes.

He is convinced that this would also mean “buying time” for the opposition.

“A return to the beginning and nullification of this commission would simultaneously mean buying time for the opposition to obstruct Self-Determination,” Surlic emphasized.