• COVID – 19: 320 new cases, 6 deaths (media)
• Prishtina inspectorate fines LDK for second time for violating measures (media)
• Kurti comments on reports he won’t be allowed to run for MP (Kallxo)
• Court ruling puts Kurti’s election candidacy at risk (Prishtina Insight)
• Konjufca: Valdete Daka wants Kurti’s political elimination (media)
• Daka says she feels threatened by Konjufca’s remarks (media)
• Hoti: It is the obligation of LDK to safeguard Western orientation (media)
• Specialist Chambers starts investigations to Albania too (Koha)

COVID – 19: 320 new cases, 6 deaths (media)

320 new cases of COVID – 19 and six deaths from the virus were recorded in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. 269 persons have recovered from the virus during this time. There are 5,746 active cases of COVID – 19 in Kosovo.

Prishtina inspectorate fines LDK for second time for violating measures (media)

The Prishtina Inspectorate fined for the second time the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) on Wednesday for violating anti COVID measures in their rally. The party was fined with €2,000.

Kurti comments on reports he won’t be allowed to run for MP (Kallxo)

Vetevendosje Movement (VV) leader Albin Kurti said on Wednesday that he is not aware of any decision by the Central Election Commission (CEC) not allowing him to run in the February parliamentary elections. Kurti told reporters in Prishtina that he has received no notification from the CEC. “Neither I as leader of the Vetevendosje nor the presidency have received any notification. But what I can see is an outstanding enthusiasm in Kosovo for the February 14 elections,” Kurti said.

Court ruling puts Kurti’s election candidacy at risk (Prishtina Insight)

Vetevendosje leader and former PM Albin Kurti may be barred from standing in the February 14 elections – after the Kosovo Judicial Council ruled that 47 candidates were theoretically unable to run having been found guilty of a criminal offence in court.

Albin Kurti’s hopes of becoming Prime Minister of Kosovo once again have been set back after the Central Election Commission, CEC, on Wednesday said 15 of the 28 political entities that had applied to run in the February 14 snap elections had proposed candidates “not in line with the Law on General Elections, which specifies that a person who has been found guilty of a criminal charge in the last three years cannot run as an MP”.

Vetevendosje’s leader and Albulena Haxhiu, a former Justice Minister, were were handed conditional prison sentences by a Prishtina court in January 2018 for throwing tear gas in parliament.

The Kosovo Judicial Council verified the candidates acting on a CEC request. “Overall, 47 of 1,081 candidates have been found guilty of a crime by a final court verdict,” CEC spokesperson Valmir Elezi told the media.

Those affected by the process could submit a challenge to the Election Complaints and Appeals Panel after the CEC completes certification. If the outcome is still negative, the Supreme Court is the final instance to decide the contest.

No names have yet been provided, but BIRN has learned that the list, among others, contains Kurti and Haxhiu.

At the time of the tear gas incident, Kurti’s party bitterly opposed the then government’s agreement on border demarcation with Montenegro and another agreement reached with Serbia on establishing a semi-autonomous association of Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo.

Immediately after the CEC communicated its information, Haxhiu took to Facebook to defend Kurti, the party’s candidate for Prime Minister in the election.

“Albin enjoys the support of many citizens and this support is undisputable, therefore citizens are rightfully concerned about deliberate tendencies to remove him from the list,” the Vetevendosje official and former minister said on Facebook.

“In a captured state, this can happen! Those are the last attempts of those who captured the state and those who served the captured state,” Haxhiu added.

CEC Spokesperson Elezi meanwhile said the commission’s Office for Registration of Political Parties will prepare recommendations for the approval or refusal of political entities and their candidates, based on the Judicial Council’s verification.

The verification comes after the Constitutional Court ruled in December last year that Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti’s government was illegitimate because it was voted in by parliament with a vote cast by Etem Arifi – an MP who received a prison sentence for corruption within the last three years.

“A person convicted of a criminal offence by a final court decision in the three last years, cannot be a candidate for deputy or win a valid mandate in the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo,” the Constitutional Court said.

Konjufca: Valdete Daka wants Kurti’s political elimination (media)

Vetevendosje Movement (VV) senior member Glauk Konjufca said on Wednesday that this party has received no notification that their leader Albin Kurti is barred from running in the February 14 parliamentary elections.

“All I know is that there is a request that the Kosovo Judicial Council has returned to the CEC which I want to comment. I think democracy in Kosovo is under threat. Albin Kurti and the others did that act for the good of the state of Kosovo. This was not a penal act aimed at damaging our people or our state. The person in the CEC that wants a suggestive request against Albin Kurti is Valdete Daka [CEC President]. They want a political elimination,” Konjufca was quoted as saying.

Daka says she feels threatened by Konjufca’s remarks (media)

Kosovo’s Central Election Commission (CEC) President Valdete Daka said on Wednesday she feels threatened by Vetevendosje senior member Glauk Konjufca’s remarks that Daka wants the political elimination of VV leader Albin Kurti. “The Central Election Commission only implements the Law on Elections,” Daka said in a message sent to the moderator of a TV debate on Wednesday.

Hoti: It is the obligation of LDK to safeguard Western orientation (media)

Kosovo’s outgoing Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti and LDK candidate for Prime Minister in the February parliamentary elections, said in a party rally on Wednesday that “the LDK has a clear vision and that is the orientation toward the West”. “The Kosovo government has managed to safeguard this pro-Western course by promoting a high political culture that leads to Western progress,” he said.

Specialist Chambers starts investigations to Albania too (Koha)

The news website reported on Wednesday that the Specialist Chambers have expanded investigations to Albania too by summoning for interview Adem Shehu, a citizen of Tirana, and former commander of a brigade in the Llapi Operational Zone. The interview is scheduled for January 28 and Shehu has chosen not to talk to the media.