CEC member, Cakolli: Osmani committed a violation, the case may end up in the Constitutional Court

While there is still some time left for the appointment of the last member of the Central Election Commission (CEC), the main dilemma remains whether this position should belong to the Vetëvendosje Movement or the Democratic Party of Kosovo.

Eugen Cakolli, program manager at the Kosovo Democratic Institute (KDI), believes that former president Vjosa Osmani has not exercised her constitutional powers in this process.

Cakolli, in an interview for Online Economy, says that the situation could become even more complicated, especially because the acting president, Albulena Haxhiu, comes from the ranks of the LVV.

"First of all, what is clear is that President Osmani has not exercised her constitutional powers, namely she has committed a violation in the case of not appointing the remaining member of the CEC, especially after the decision of the Constitutional Court not to accept her case. In this regard, the established legal deadlines have already been violated and for me it was meaningless how the president in the last days of her mandate did not exercise a power that is her exclusive power. While now that we have an acting president of the country, I believe that the situation could be further complicated because since Mrs. Haxhiu, even though she is acting, she comes to have a position both within the Vetëvendosje Movement but also as Speaker of the Parliament," he said.

He also explained who the member belongs to.

"In the event of an appointment that would not be in accordance with the practice and legislation in force, according to which the second member in this case belongs to the Democratic Party of Kosovo, since the model that Kosovo applies is the strict model of representation, where proportionality in the Assembly is not taken into account. So, it does not matter how many deputies a political entity has, as long as the parliamentary group qualifies as such, then automatically the division of seats is done in the same way," says Cakolli.

He warned that if the member is appointed from within the LVV ranks, the case could end up in the Constitutional Court.

"In the event that Ms. Haxhiu issues a decision on the appointment of the third member in this case of the Vetëvendosje Movement, I believe that this matter will easily end up in the Constitutional Court. Which, first of all, risks further undermining the credibility and trustworthiness of the public towards the CEC, and on the other hand, it would undoubtedly be an indication that the position of acting president could be used to push forward the party agenda to which Ms. Haxhiu herself actually belongs, without wanting to speculate on her decision-making," he said.

Cakolli also mentioned the precedent of 2021, emphasizing that the practice has been clear.

"In my opinion, the only legal and consistent decision with what has happened so far, including the case of 2021 when we were in exactly the same situation, that is, when there were more proposals than there were seats left to be distributed within the CEC, President Osmani, similarly to President Thaçi and President Jahjaga before him, have appointed the members of the CEC according to the strict representation model. And that the same guarantees a kind of greater credibility in fact in the CEC, because the CEC is not a miniature Assembly where political balance is reflected, but is a body that will have to appear in the eyes of the public as an independent body and which impartially administers the electoral process," he emphasizes.

He also recalled a Constitutional Court decision from that same year.

"In this regard, the Constitutional Court in the case of the acting president Jakup Krasniqi, had issued an opinion, namely a decision at that time, according to which the full constitutional discretion is recognized to the acting president for the entire range of decision-making that he represents according to the relevant article of the Constitution. Which means that in this case there is no other modality, except for Ms. Haxhiu to be the one who appoints the remaining member of the CEC and completes the composition of this institution. But, what remains to be seen is whether the current practice and the legal framework will be followed, or whether we will have a decision that could easily end up in the Constitutional Court," he said.

On Wednesday, the Democratic Party of Kosovo addressed the Acting President, Albulena Haxhiu, with an official request to proceed with the appointment of the second member of this party to the Central Election Commission.

According to the Constitution, six members of the CEC are appointed by the six largest parliamentary groups that do not hold reserved seats. In the event that there are fewer parliamentary groups, the largest groups may appoint additional members.

April 11 is the legal deadline to make the appointment.Periscopes