21 Aug 14
At a Constitutional Court hearing on Thursday, Kosovo's two main political blocs argued about which of them has the right to nominate the speaker of parliament.

Nektar Zogjani
BIRN
Pristina

The court hearing should pave the way for a ruling designed to end a political stalemate in Kosovo over the election of a speaker - and the formation of a new government.

The Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, is contesting the election of an opposition politician, Isa Mustafa, as speaker.

Three months on from the general elections, the election of a speaker is a matter of urgency as only then can the Assembly proceed with electing a new government.

The two major political blocs, the PDK, and a bloc comprising the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, AAK, and the Initiative for Kosovo, NISMA, each claims the right to name the speaker.

The PDK says it has the right because following the general election it remains the largest single party in parliament with 37 seats.

But the opposition bloc says it also has the right to nominate the speaker because together it has 47 seats.

Arsim Bajrami, representative of the PDK in the hearing, said that the opposition bloc was not a legitimate caucus because it was formed after the general election, at the constituent session of the new parliament.

Bajrami mainained that the constituent session, where the bloc was established, was of a technical and ceremonial nature - and the establishment of parliamentary group should have been done at another session of the Assembly.

He asked the court to declare Mustafa’s election unconstitutional and to give the PDK, as the largest parliamentary group, the right to nominate the speaker.

The PDK filed its complaint to the court about the procedures on July 18, one day after Mustafa was elected to the post.

Vjosa Osmani, representative of the LDK-AAK-NISMA bloc, disputed Bajrami’s argument.

“The nomination [of Mustafa] came from the largest parliamentary group and... the Assembly rules say a parliamentary group can be established with six or more deputies, as long as they have informed the assembly presidency,” she said.

“Parliamentary groups are not certified before the elections, but they are rather established after the elections,” she added.

Albulena Haxhiu, of the opposition Self-Determination Movement - which is closer to the oppostion bloc than the PDK - asked the court to declare the PDK request unacceptable.