Regarding this, he told KosovaPress, that the secret vote for the election of the Speaker of the Assembly reflects the free will of MPs and says that such a procedure was not considered unconstitutional in the Constitutional Court’s ruling on June 26.
Moreover, he claims it would be absurd for the Constitutional Court to reject the secret vote even after a complaint filed by PDK and LDK MPs to the Court over the continuation of the constitutive session following its ruling.
“A secret vote is a constitutional and legitimate way for MPs to express their free will, free from external pressure. We proposed this method after seeing that an open vote was not possible, due to pressure from opposition parties on their MPs to block the vote and hinder the Assembly’s constitution. Therefore, we proposed the secret ballot. It would be absurd for the Constitutional Court to reject this idea, since the secret vote is a fundamental part of parliamentary and representative democracy, applied in countries with even higher democratic standards than ours. We are confident that the secret vote will not be overturned. The Court should instead define the responsibility of the blocking opposition, which is making it difficult for Kosovo to overcome this crisis,” Abrashi stated.Despite the Constitutional Court ruling mandating the constitution of the Assembly no later than July 26, parliamentary parties continue to fail in electing legislative bodies.
Abrashi states that there are differing opinions on what may happen after July 26 if the Assembly is not constituted. According to him, this is an unprecedented situation in Kosovo, and further legal clarification from the Constitutional Court is needed.“This is a situation that has never occurred before in Kosovo, which is why there are differing views on what might happen if a constitutional deadline is not respected. According to the Constitutional Court’s ruling, this deadline is mandatory. However, our Constitution does not foresee the dissolution of the Assembly in the event it is not constituted. The Constitution clearly defines the conditions under which the Assembly may be dissolved, and the idea is that ultimately, this could lead to new elections,” he said.
More than six months have passed since the February 9 parliamentary elections, yet Kosovo still has not formed new institutions.
Abrashi says that VV, as the party that won first the elections, has made compromises to facilitate the constitution of the Assembly, even by seeking a political agreement with LDK.“We have acted in accordance with the Constitutional Court’s call to find consensus and a common language to emerge from this crisis. Based on this, we have sent an invitation to the Democratic League of Kosovo with a proposal to resolve the situation. We even offered a power-sharing agreement, but received a categorical rejection. LDK maintains a very extreme stance—perhaps its leader believes extreme positions will advance Kosovo’s interests. But this blockage is harmful to Kosovo. A more open-minded and practical approach is needed,” he said.
The VV MP, who is also the head of the party's branch in the city of Prizren, also spoke to KosovaPress about VV’s candidate for mayor of this municipality in the upcoming local elections on October 12.He says there are several options for the candidacy in Prizren and that a public announcement will be made soon.
“The issue of candidacies will be clarified very soon. Vetëvendosje is considering several options to find the best solution. I believe that in the coming days we will finalize the process and make an official announcement regarding the candidacies,” Abrashi concluded. /KosovaPress/
