The Supreme Court College has rejected as unfounded the appeal of the political entity Koalicija Vakat, while upholding the decision of the Election Complaints and Appeals Panel (ECAP) regarding the certification of candidate Ena Krasniqi, KosovaPress reports.
Koalicioni Vakat had submitted an appeal to the Supreme Court, contesting the legality of the ECAP decision and requesting that the Central Election Commission (CEC) be obliged to certify candidate Ena Krasniqi on the electoral list of this political entity for the December 28 elections.
According to the Supreme Court’s assessment, the claim that a parliamentary candidate can run to represent a community for which the Constitution and the Law provide guaranteed seats solely based on ethnic origin from the mother’s side is not in accordance with Kosovo’s constitutional order and international standards for the protection of minorities.
Candidate Ena Krasniqi, on the list of the political entity Koalicioni Vakat, has not presented any concrete evidence demonstrating her real connection to that community or her contribution to its welfare. In the absence of any proof of continuous social, cultural, political, or institutional engagement in the protection and advancement of the interests of that community, the claim for representation remains merely declarative and without factual basis, the decision states.
The Supreme Court recalls that the refusal to certify in this particular case does not deprive the candidate of the right to be elected in the general sense under Article 45, as participation in elections as such is not prohibited; it only prevents candidacy within a specific constitutional mechanism reserved for a certain category of subjects, namely members of the respective community.
“Such a distinction does not constitute discrimination or an unjustified limitation of the electoral right, but is a direct consequence of the implementation of constitutional provisions that provide affirmative measures for non-majority communities.”
