The Assembly of Kosovo has started an extraordinary session, which is expected to mark one of the most important developments in parliamentary life: the voting of constitutional amendments that enable the election of the President of the Republic directly by the citizens.
This session comes after the green light given by the Legislation Committee, which with 6 votes in favor and 2 against approved the proceedings of the amendments proposed by President Vjosa Osmani. However, the plenary hall was immediately engulfed in debate and polarization between the majority demanding quick approval and the opposition accusing procedural violations and lack of seriousness.
LVV: End of political negotiations, let’s give legitimacy to the President
On the part of the majority, the initiative has been defended with the argument of the democratization of the institution of the head of state. The chairwoman of the parliamentary group of the Vetëvendosje Movement (LVV), Arbërie Nagavci, emphasized that the current system has held this post hostage due to compromises between political parties.
According to Nagavc, passing the right to vote to citizens gives the President a clear mandate and significantly increases his democratic legitimacy.
“A president elected by the citizens must win the support of the majority of citizens and different groups of society, not only the deputies, which can make the presidential figure more unifying for the country,” declared Nagavci, confirming the full support of her parliamentary group for these amendments.
PDK: In favor of the principle, but against “hurry” and procedural violations
On the other hand, the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) has expressed strong reservations, not on the essence of the initiative, but on the form and time chosen to proceed with it.
The chairman of the PDK, Bedri Hamza, clarified that his party has been and remains in principle in favor of the idea that the President should be elected by the people. However, he described the handling of this issue in the last hours of the President’s mandate as deeply frivolous, criticizing the fact that outdated amendments from 15 years ago are being used.
Hamza raised serious questions about the procedure followed, emphasizing that the extraordinary session was called at 19:45, while the voluminous materials arrived at the deputies only at 20:30.
According to him, the process is bypassing the regulation of the Assembly and the instructions of the Constitutional Court on the amendment of the highest legal act of the country.
According to him, the amendment of the Constitution requires a broad social discussion and a stable political pact, and not urgently called sessions.
“How can members of the Assembly talk about such an important topic for the country’s highest legal act without accepting the documents?” asked Hamza, calling on the Assembly not to become part of what he called one “frivolous dance”.
Abdixhiku confirms the support, but warns about the challenge of the “double majority”
The Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) has formalized its position in favor of constitutional changes for the election of the President directly by the citizens. The chairman of the party, Lumir Abdixhiku, has confirmed that his deputies will vote in favor of the amendments, giving an important push to this initiative, despite harsh criticism for the rushed procedure.
Although the LDK joined the majority in the vote, Abdixhiku has not spared criticism of the methodology followed by the government to push forward the highest legal act of the state. He described as unacceptable the practice of amending the Constitution in midnight sessions without extensive and exhaustive debate.
“The constitution is changed at night, believe me, there are no benefits,” emphasized the leader of the LDK from the floor of the Assembly, adding however that, despite the procedural remarks, “LDK supports and votes for them” these amendments.
A political legacy by Ibrahim Rugova
For the LDK, passing the election of the President to the people is not a compromise of the moment, but a fulfillment of an early ideological vision. Abdixhiku reminded the deputies that this concept dates back to the historical president, Ibrahim Rugova.
Moreover, he emphasized the authorship of his own party in these documents: it was precisely the LDK that in 2011 drafted and sent these amendments for interpretation to the Constitutional Court, which cleared and approved them in 2012.
The real vote of non-majority communities
Beyond the will of the Albanian parties (LVV and LDK) to reach the necessary two-thirds of the total number of deputies, the head of the LDK emphasized the main obstacle that has kept this initiative blocked for more than a decade: the constitutional obligation to “double majority”.
According to the article on amending the Constitution, amendments cannot be passed unless they receive the approval of a specific majority. Abdixhik explained that this Assembly has not managed to pass them before due to a simple mathematical and political fact.
2/3 of the votes of all deputies of the Assembly of Kosovo are required (at least 80 votes).
2/3 of the votes of the MPs who hold the seats reserved or guaranteed for representatives of communities that are not the majority in Kosovo (at least 14 out of 20 minority MPs) are necessarily required.
This detail shows that the final approval of the President’s election by the people will depend entirely on the negotiations and the will of the deputies of the non-majority communities inside the hall.
