Friday, November 04, 2016 – The President of the Republic of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi, has held today a consultative meeting on the electoral reform with the representatives of the political entities in Kosovo.
President Thaçi demanded that the work for the completion of the electoral reform in Kosovo to commence, that a more suitable electoral system to be found for the needs of Kosovo.
Taking into consideration that Kosovo is a new state in construction and consolidation, President Thaçi has said that the electoral reforms are even more complex, because the political culture for the the construction of representative democracy is paler.
“In Kosovo there is a need for an open and wide debate, to discuss about the elections, the electoral system and the voting manner which its citizens aim to achieve”, said President Thaçi.
The President has said that, to reform the electoral system, firstly the legal reform must be done.
These changes, according to President Thaçi, should also include the method of electing the President, the determination between one electoral zone or more electoral zones in Kosovo, between open or closed lists , and also the determination on the electoral threshold, to be left 5 percent or to decrease it.
“All these measures should make the voting process easier and more fair”, said President Thaçi.
President Thaçi has given the proposal to reduce the number of MPs from 120 to 100, and to share a seat for both the Montenegrin and Croatian community, who are not represented in the Assembly of Kosovo.
At this meeting, Deputy President Enver Hoxhaj, has unfolded the point of view of the Democratic Party of Kosovo on the electoral reform, who has said that Kosovo has a domestic context entirely different from what we have had so far.
“The current political system, the current constitutional system, but also the current electoral system is a product of an early stage of the creation of the state of Kosovo. This new stage should be reflected also in the improvement of the electoral system. We believe that we will come up with concrete proposals of how we see the electoral system in Kosovo”, said Hoxhaj.
Whereas, the leader of the LDK, Isa Mustafa, said that the Democratic League is a supporter of the changes and the reforms which are considered necessary to be made, in order that the local elections which are less than a year away, and the central elections which are after a year and a half, to be prepared on time, by using all the necessary consultative bodies, also including the Venice commission in this process, to meet all the necessary criteria.
“Reform is of benefit to everyone, regardless of who is participating here today and who is not. We must work together to find a solution for everyone”, said the leader of the LDK, Isa Mustafa.
Part of the consultative meeting on the electoral reform were the representatives of 15 political entities, parliamentary and non-parliamentary, representing all the communities of Kosovo, then the representatives of the Embassy of the United States, those of the Office of the EU, the Ambassador of the OSCE in Kosovo, the Head of the CEC, and representatives of civil society.