Kosovo Assembly Speaker Albulena Haxhiu has said that, following President Vjosa Osmani’s return of the Law on the Specialist Chambers, the Assembly must decide through a vote whether the legislation should be amended or left unchanged.
Following a meeting of the Assembly Presidency, Haxhiu announced that the Committee on Legislation had been tasked with examining the matter. The committee has four weeks to review all aspects of the issue before reporting back to the Assembly.
Haxhiu said that, based on her interpretation of the Constitutional Court’s judgment and the Assembly’s Rules of Procedure, the president’s return of the law constitutes a presidential veto. She also said the president’s letter would be made public if it had not already been published.
“I was under the impression that the President’s letter had been made public. If it has not, then the Assembly will take responsibility for publishing it, because we have nothing to hide. We will make it public so that you can examine it yourselves,” Haxhiu said.
“Based on my reading, there is no specific issue that has been explicitly identified. The letter refers to the declaration of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, as well as the request by the PDK parliamentary group to return the law for a third reading. Nevertheless, we will make the letter public and share it with you, and you can assess it accordingly,” she added.
Haxhiu reiterated that, in her interpretation of the Constitutional Court’s judgment and the Assembly’s rules, the president’s action constitutes a veto.
“In this case, the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo must vote for or against it. The Assembly’s role at this stage is to decide whether the law will be amended or whether it will remain unchanged,” she said.
Haxhiu also confirmed that she had communicated with the PDK parliamentary group about the matter, including earlier that morning. However, she stressed that the Committee on Legislation was responsible for examining all relevant aspects.
“We have had communications with the PDK parliamentary group this morning and throughout the day, but it is the Committee on Legislation’s responsibility to examine all these aspects. This is simply my position, based on what I have read in the Constitutional Court’s judgment and the Assembly’s Rules of Procedure,” she said.
Haxhiu confirmed that she had formally assigned the matter to the committee, which has four weeks to review it before referring it back to the Assembly.
She also stressed the importance of continuing the work of the working group on the strategy for appeals, saying that attention should remain focused on that process.
