Extraordinary Assembly session fails
(All monitored broadcasters, RTK1 & KTV)
Upon request of the opposition MPs, the Kosovo Assembly held its extraordinary session on the new Government’s programme.
However, after a few discussions, the session was stopped with request of the opposition, which asked that the session resumes on Tuesday.
The session started with the address by VV MP Albin Kurti. He called on the Government not to bring to the Assembly big topics such as demarcation and Association.
Kurti criticised the new Government for assigning Ministry of Agriculture to Srpska List.
The debate initiator, Head of the LDK Parliamentary Group Avdullah Hoti, said that the new Government did not provide any explanation how it is going to deal with establishment of the Army, dialogue with Serbia, and demarcation with Montenegro.
The majority representatives did not attend the session, calling the opposition’s request a circus.
The opposition representatives addressed criticism against the new Government, and said they would like to discuss principles of its programme.
The Assembly Speaker Kadri Veseli, on the other hand, said that the opposition made the request for this session in order to get political credits.
Veseli expressed his belief that Haradinaj Government would be a government of big decisions, and that it would take its mandate to the end.
The opposition MPs continued addressing their criticism, although no one from the Government Cabinet was in the Assembly.
The only ruling party MP who attended the session was Milaim Zeka. Upon taking the floor, Zeka exploded with accusations and insults against the opposition . The Assembly Speaker Veseli reacted to Zeka’s banal language.
Following this situation, the LDK Parliamentary Group leader Avdullah Hoti asked for the session to be stopped.
The Assembly Speaker Veseli stopped the session, and said that the Assembly Presidency would decide about resumption.
Haradinaj: I will be at service of country and people
(All monitored broadcasters, RTK1)
Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj pledged that he would be at service of the country and the people, and that he will do his best for welfare of Kosovo society at large.
Haradinaj wrote on Facebook that his Government would be a government of all Kosovo citizens; regardless their ethnicity, religion, political or ideological background, and that more than ever before, it will be willing to closely cooperate with parliamentary opposition, civil society, and media.
“Immediately after I was entrusted to lead Government of the country, I received thousands of congratulations from citizens, supporters of AAK and other parties, from diplomats and representatives of states; the first amongst them were Prime Minister Edi Rama, President Ilir Meta, and US senator Eliot Engel. I would like to courtly thank them all. A new start for Kosovo happens only by being united, and by trusting each other,” Haradinaj wrote on Sunday.
Haradinaj: Border agreement is wrong
(KTV)
Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj said that his Cabinet has taken oath to work in compliance with the Constitution and laws in force; thus, he added that every opportunity needed to be used in order to build trust with Kosovo Serbs.
“The elected Cabinet took oath to work in compliance with the Kosovo Constitution and laws in force; this is the response to those opinions. At the same time, we need to use every opportunity to build trust with Kosovo Serbs; fortunately, we have done so with other communities, but we also need to build it with Kosovo Serbs, not only with those in south, but with north Serbs, as well,” Haradinaj said in an interview with the Voice of America.
Haradinaj added that Albanians are an ancient people which have always respected every nation and religion; therefore, we need to build good relations with \Kosovo Serbs, too.
“Albanians are an ancient people, one of the oldest peoples in The Balkans, autochthon. They have always honoured others and respected their identity, be it national, religious, linguistic or other. Albanians know how to do it; I know how to do it also for Kosovo Serbs. We need this mutual trust, and we will work for this trust,” he added.
Haradinaj keeps insisting that the Kosovo-Montenegro border is in Çakorr, Kullë, and on high peaks.
“My political principles do not depend on the case if I am in opposition or in power, I defend what I believe and I say what I believe. The current version of the agreement is wrong. The Kosovo-Montenegro border is in Çakorr and Kullë, and on high peaks, so we are going to correct it,” Haradinaj said to Voice of America. He added that a way out of this situation would be found soon, as well as to provide visa liberalisation.
”It is fortunate that Montenegro is a neighbouring country. We have been rejoiced about Montenegro’s progress, particularly about its NATO accession, which is our intention, too, so I do not foresee big difficulties in this issue. So, I believe that a way out of the existing situation will be found soon. I am not going to specify now what steps will be taken, but a way out of this situation will be found soon, and we will not delay visa liberalisation either,”, he added.
Haradinaj said that ratification by Montenegro of the Kosovo border agreement has not been closed, because it must be ratified by the Kosovo Assembly also.
“An agreement is ratified when it is ratified by two, not by one parliament, because it is an international agreement, and if the other party does not ratify it, it might even be brought back to zero,” Haradinaj said.
Haradinaj stated that a new expertise would be involved in the Kosovo-Montenegro border issue.
“In my view, the agreement contains mistakes. I believe that we will identify those mistakes. I am sure we will have new experts, different from those who worked in the past such as Mr (Murat) Meha and others, and they will find the truth. So, the agreement contains mistakes. I did not want to specify the methodology because it is too early to announce it, but there are two options: finding the mistakes and negotiating with Montenegro to reach an agreement, that is to say correction so that the agreement can be adopted both here in Kosovo and in Montenegro. Another way is to send the agreement to the Assembly to put it to voting, but by telling them we know that it contains mistakes, so please turn it down. There is no other way; these situations do not last eternally. So, I am going to act, I will not let it go on endlessly,” Haradinaj concluded.
EU welcomes establishment of new Kosovo Government
(All monitored broadcasters, RTK1)
The European Union welcomed establishment of the new Government of Kosovo, led by Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj.
The EU message to Kosovo has been that there is no time to waste, but instead, Kosovo should play an active role in the region and to move forward in the process of normalisation of relations with Serbia.
Another EU message to Kosovo is to start the process of the rule of law and economy reform, not excluding steps towards progress in the visa liberalisation process.
Lottery for local elections to be drawn on Monday
(All monitored broadcasters, RTK1)
The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced that lottery to determine ballot position of political entities for local elections would be drawn on Monday.
CEC also is continuing its preparations for organising October 22 local elections.
Now that less than two months have remained until Election Day, CEC says that it has accomplished its tasks.
CEC has also completed the phase of political party certification.
In total, 91 political entities will run in the local elections.
“The outside Kosovo voter application period was concluded within the timeline. During this period, we received 11,813 applications; most of them arrived through one of three voter service email addresses. Out of them, 10,475 applications have been approved, and 1,338 have been refused,” said Valmir Elezi, CEC spokesperson.
Another phase in this process is the possibility to change polling centre only within the same municipality. This period ends on 12th September.
“The final voter list shall be certified by mid-September, so then we will know the exact number of voters. Presently we have the preliminary, not the final voter list, which contains 1 million 900 thousand, 669 voter names, with an increase of 15 thousand voters compared to June 11 elections,” Elezi added.
Amongst 91 political entities, there are 35 political parties, 1 coalition, 30 civic initiatives, and 25 independent candidates (for mayors or for municipal assemblies in different municipalities).
KLI: CEC certified candidates with criminal background
(Most monitored broadcasters, KTV)
The Kosovo Law Institute (KLI) reacted against the Central Election Commission (CEC). According to KLI, CEC has violated law, by certifying candidates with a criminal background for the upcoming October 22 local elections.
KLI believes that the CEC decision to certify candidates with criminal background over the last three years, in contradiction with the Law on Local Elections in Kosovo, represents a scandal.
KLI calls on the State |Prosecutor’s Office to investigate the CEC decision-making, which despite official records provided by the Kosovo Judicial Council (KJC) on candidates with criminal background, still certified them.
According to KLI, there are more than 7,000 candidates that CEC requested records about their criminal background from basic courts, and there are more than 600 candidates against whom convicting judgments have been made, or who are under criminal proceedings.
