Opposition announces blocking of today’s Assembly session (Zeri)
Opposition parties have announced they will not back down from their positions ahead of today’s Assembly session and that they will again try to block it despite signals that President Atifete Jahjaga intends to send the disputed agreements with Serbia and Montenegro to the Constitutional Court for review. Opposition representatives claim they have no trust in the work of the Constitutional Court as it is under political influence. Frasher Krasniqi from Vetevendosje said they will continue to protest inside the Assembly as long as the agreements are not recalled while Donika Kadaj-Bujupi from the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) said the calling of today’s session is a provocation.
Thaci: Opposition does not have vision (RTKlive)
Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hashim Thaci, considers that the possibility of having new elections is ridiculous. During an interview for the public broadcaster, RTK, Thaci said that opposition is lacking vision and it is being identified with violence. He reiterated that there will be no elections, wider coalition nor a technical government. He said that the last elections were the most valued ones and their results were accepted by all the parties. “It is not good for us as parties of the coalition to have an opposition that is being identified with violence or arms, it should be identified with values, standards, ideas and vision, this is what they are lacking. I am convinced that Kosovo citizens do not vote for people of violence, they do not award those who harm the state,” Thaci said.
Limaj: Stepping on the opposition is not a solution (Epoka e Re)
The Leader of the Initiative for Kosovo (NISMA), Fatmir Limaj, wrote on his Facebook account on Thursday that the appeal and decision of the governing coalition to hold the Assembly session on Friday shows the arrogance and the intention of this coalition. “Several scenarios on the reactions of this coalition have been voiced: we will clash with the opposition, we will drag them. We will provoke conflicts among the deputies. I pray and hope that these are only gossip. If any of these happens tomorrow, then this governing coalition is choosing to resolve the political crisis with repression, instead of treating seriously the requests of the opposition,” Limaj wrote. He added that responding with counter-action is not a solution.
Civil society to organise march against violence today (Koha Ditore)
Kosovo’s civil society organizations will organise today in Pristina a peaceful march demanding the end to violence in the Assembly sessions. The march is expected to begin at 11.00hrs. One of the organizers, Ismet Kryeziu from the Kosovo Democratic Institute said in a press conference that civil society is deeply concerned about the images coming from the last Assembly sessions. He also said that the decision to call a session today without any progress in resolving the political tensions between the parties will not help the situation.
Prosecution postpones call for Vetevendosje MPs to report to police (Koha)
The Pristina Basic Prosecution is expected to redeliver invitations to the Vetevendosje MPs, Albin Kurti and Albulena Haxhiu, for reporting to the police to be interviewed in relation to the events in the latest Assembly sessions. The redelivery of the calls was done as the prosecution confirmed they were not submitted in the regular way the first time. Kurti and Haxhiu have announced they do not plan to report to authorities while the prosecution said that if they fail to do so, they will be issued with arrest warrants.
