The fate of election reform will be determined on Thursday as heads of the ad-hoc commission on election reform are expected to report to Kosovo Assembly. After the reporting, heads of parliamentary groups with have their say on the path that the process should take.
Kosovo Assembly Speaker, Jakup Krasniqi, did not clarify his stance but stressed that the reform depends on the political will of the leaders.
“The problem is that election reform, according to a resolution approved right after the constitution of Kosovo institutions in 2011, was supposed to end by now. However, we are where we are and the issue is largely up to the will of political parties represented in the Assembly”, said Krasniqi.
Adem Grabovci, head of Democratic Party of Kosovo parliamentary group, said it is not good to head to elections without reform although, according to him, election reform cannot end without a prior political agreement between leaders.
“This reform cannot end without a political agreement, this should be clear to all. We can keep on discussing for months and years but there can be no conclusion without a political agreement”, he said.
At the same time, head of Democratic League of Kosovo parliamentary group, Ismet Beqiri, said that after the reporting at the Assembly, the process will be carried to the legislation commission. However, he does not rule out the possibility of elections taking place even without reform in place.
”All options are on the table. You know certain timeframes were mentioned like September, June, but it could be even sooner than these two”, said Beqiri.
Visar Ymeri from Vetëvendosje wants the reporting on election reform to be detailed and reflect the political obstacles encountered during the work.
“Why some issues that needed to be discussed were not and what were the obstacles in the work of this commission; were they political obstacles within the Assembly or outside it”, he asked.
The statements were made after the meeting of Assembly presidency. Representatives of political parties also commented on the position of Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi about inclusion of Croat and Montenegrin communities to the Constitution with LDK and Vetëvendosje opposing the opening and changing the highest legal act of the country.
