The Democratic Party of Kosovo has sent to the Constitutional Court the request for the evaluation of the constitutionality of the constitution of the Assembly of Kosovo, including the election of the Speaker and Deputy Speakers of the Assembly.
After submitting the request, the representatives of the PDK, Arian Tahiri, Pëparim Gruda and Faton Fetahu, said that the decision of the Constitutional Court should be taken as soon as possible, on the grounds that the decisions of the institutions issued by an Assembly that, according to them, was not constituted in accordance with the Constitution, could produce legal and institutional consequences.
The chairman of the Parliamentary Group of the PDK, Arian Tahiri, said that the request includes the evaluation of the constitutionality of the findings on the constitution of the Assembly, the election of the president, the method of electing the vice-presidents and their voting.
“We believe and we have continuously spoken with respect and confidence about the work and professionalism of the Constitutional Court, therefore even today we speak with appreciation and confidence and we consider that it is immediate, very important that the decision be taken as soon as possible so that damages and more serious situations are not produced in the legal and institutional sense”, Tahiri emphasized.
He claimed that even the Government elected by the Assembly can make illegal decisions, if the constitution of the Assembly is found to be in conflict with the Constitution.
“For all of this we will turn to the Court for each illegal decision so that the country returns to the constitutional track and the institutions are respected, the highest legal act of the country is respected – the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo”, he said.
The deputy of PDK, Përparim Gruda, said that according to the Constitution and the judgment of the Constitutional Court, the Assembly had to be constituted no later than August 8.
According to him, the Vetëvendosje Movement had then set September 6 as the political deadline for the end of the process, but even this deadline, according to Gruda, was not respected.
“When she violated a constitutional deadline and a deadline set by herself politically, we were in a difficult position. However, we decided to go to two hearings: on September 9 and on September 11. But even this was not respected. When we saw that, in addition to violating the deadlines, the institutions are mocking, the citizens of Kosovo are mocking with senseless hearings, with meaningless reasoning, completely absurd, we decided today to turn to the Constitutional Court, because this court has a verdict for this case and we have had our hesitations until today to come, but since the situation has gone completely out of control, that is, the power is totally outside the Constitution, we have no other way left but to turn to the Constitutional Court”, Gruda emphasized.
According to him, there is a principle in law that says that no one can benefit from his own violation.
“The Vetëvendosje movement cannot violate all the deadlines and in the end benefit from these types of violations. A precedent cannot be created where a political party replaces the deadlines defined in the Constitution with its own political deadlines. No majority, no matter how big it is, can violate the Constitution”, he added.
According to him, the Constitution exists to keep the power within a framework, as he has warned of another subject in the Constitution for tomorrow, for the formation of the new government.
“If the Assembly of Kosovo was constituted with a constitutional violation, the decisions that come out of it also have constitutional problems. Therefore today, in addition to the constitution of the Assembly, which we contested today, the form of constitution of terms, tomorrow we will submit another request where we will contest the election of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo. We cannot continue to allow the Assembly to elect the central bodies of the state, producing bigger constitutional dilemmas and with its own legitimacy”, he underlined.
According to him, in a constitutional democracy, legitimacy does not originate only from votes, but from respect for the state Constitution.
Meanwhile, lawyer Faton Fetahu said that the request submitted to the Constitutional Court raises three main issues.
“The first is related to the election of the President of the Assembly, the second to the procedure of changing the voting method for the vice-presidents, while the third to the finding that the Assembly was constituted without a member of the Presidency from the ranks of the second largest parliamentary group”, he emphasized.
Fetahu said that the PDK considers that the Assembly was not constituted in accordance with the Constitution, the Rules of the Assembly and the judgments of the Constitutional Court.
He argued that the physical absence of the PDK deputies in the hall during the election of the members of the Presidency should not be interpreted as a waiver of the right to propose their candidate.
“The parliamentary group of the PDK, from a legal point of view, has continuously submitted requests to the Assembly of Kosovo for the session to be held and has done so throughout the period that there has been no attempt to hold the constitutive session”, said Fetahu.
He added that the PDK requested that the issue be examined in the entirety of the developments and not only through the physical participation of the deputies in a session.
In the end, Fetahu said that the PDK expects the Constitutional Court to declare the request admissible and to impose a temporary measure as soon as possible, with the aim, according to him, of avoiding irreparable consequences.
“Therefore, we believe that this case will be confirmed by the Constitutional Court with a constitutional violation. This request will be declared admissible and, above all, it is necessary and necessary due to the avoidance of irreparable damages and due to the respect of the public interest that the temporary measure be imposed as soon as possible”, said Fetahu./RTK/
