The President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, has announced that she has issued a decree to dissolve the Kosovo Assembly, leading the country towards new elections.
In a press conference, Osmani said that she appeared before the citizens because, according to her, the people's representatives decided last night that the country should go to new elections.
"I am here before you because the people's representatives decided last night to send the country to new elections. This situation was avoidable. It is a great misfortune that they did not choose the interest of Kosovo", Osmani said.
She added that, in accordance with constitutional powers, she has issued the decree dissolving the Assembly.
"Therefore, today, in accordance with my constitutional powers, I have issued the decree dissolving the Assembly," the president said.
Speaking about the failure of the efforts to elect the president on the evening of March 5, Osmani said that this was not a random situation, but according to her, a deliberate political calculation.
“In a constitutional republic there is something that is above party calculations and the interests of the moment: the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo. The Constitution is not a ceremonial text. It is our common contract as a state. It is the boundary that politics cannot cross and the compass that institutions cannot lose. Last night, the efforts to elect a new president failed. This failure was neither accidental nor thoughtless, but on the contrary very well calculated and conceived, unfortunately.”, Osman added.
According to her, the Constitution clearly states that the deadline for electing the president ended at midnight on Thursday.
"The procedure for electing the president, although it can begin up to 60 days before the deadline, cannot be postponed further, but must definitely be completed no later than 30 days before the end of the current mandate. The deadline is clear: it was last night at midnight and the president cannot be elected after this moment.", she continued.
Osmani emphasized that the deputies had 23 days to fulfill this constitutional obligation.
"The deputies had 23 days to perform this constitutional duty. They decided not to do so. The fact that the Assembly has chosen not to use these days does not change our Constitution and does not undo my duty to dissolve this Assembly, which failed.", the president declared.
We recall that last night, in the late hours, the extraordinary session of the Kosovo Assembly called for the election of the country's president was closed, as there was not a sufficient quorum for the voting process to take place.
The Speaker of the Assembly, Albulena Haxhiu, explained that at least 80 deputies must participate in the first and second rounds of voting in order for the vote to be considered valid. Due to the lack of this number of deputies in the hall, the session was interrupted without the vote on the election of the president taking place./ RTK
