Speaker of the Assembly Albulena Haxhiu opened the session with remarks on the insults made by Vetëvendosje MP Fatos Geci toward former KLA leaders and MP Vlora Citaku.
Haxhiu said his statements regarding the former KLA leaders who are being held in The Hague were divisive and unacceptable. She also expressed hope that the decision of the Special Court will correct what she called the injustice of the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office.
“In the previous session I intervened during MP Geci’s speech because that statement was serious, divisive and unacceptable. I want to reiterate that the leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army are being held unjustly in The Hague, and I hope that the Court’s decision will correct the injustice of the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office. As Speaker of the Assembly, I unequivocally condemn this language and make it clear that I will not allow the Assembly’s podium to be used for such attacks. Let us debate with arguments and ideas, but not with positions that undermine the liberation war and those who stood up for this country in the most difficult times for our people. The KLA war was a just war for freedom, it was clean and sacred, and any attempt to diminish or tarnish it is unacceptable, whoever does it and wherever it is done,” she said.
She also condemned MP Geci’s sexist language toward Deputy Speaker Vlora Citaku, where he is heard saying: “You’re 100 years old, you’ve stayed unmarried. Bad woman.”
“Yesterday, sexist language toward the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, Ms. Vlora Citaku, was made public. Dear MPs of this Assembly, the Assembly of Kosovo is not and will never become an arena for gender-based attacks. Sexist and humiliating language toward women in politics, as well as toward every girl and woman in our society, is unacceptable and shameful. I will never remain silent in the face of this language and will not allow it to be normalized in the Assembly of Kosovo. MPs in this hall are elected representatives of citizens; whoever insults them, directly insults the citizens’ vote. Those who have arguments should present them. Those who disagree should express their disagreements openly. But insults, prejudice, and humiliation are not debate and will never be tolerated. As Speaker of the Assembly, I call on every MP to maintain the level this institution requires and the trust that citizens have given us,” she said.
