The Constitutional Court declares Osman's request regarding the CEC members inadmissible

2026-03-30 18:14:50, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Constitutional Court declares Osman's request regarding the CEC members

The Constitutional Court has declared inadmissible the request of the President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, regarding the appointment of members of the Central Election Commission.

Osmani has requested an assessment of the "conflict between constitutional competencies under Article 113" of the Constitution, respectively between it and "parliamentary groups as bodies of the Assembly of Kosovo" regarding the appointment of CEC members.

The court said that the required constitutional criteria regarding the establishment of a "conflict of constitutional powers" were not met.

The Constitutional Court indicated that in this specific case, the conflict of powers arose with a power of the president that is not defined by the Constitution, but by the Law on General Elections.

This is because this competence stems from paragraph 6 of Article 61 of the Law on General Elections.

The court also said that even in the part of the Constitution that deals with forms of government and the separation of powers, it is not specifically stated anywhere that the President of Kosovo has the authority to appoint members of the CEC.

"In the Court's assessment of the circumstances of the specific case, the President of the Republic, although a party authorized to raise issues of conflict of constitutional competences between herself and the Assembly, has not raised before the Court a conflict of 'constitutional competences', and consequently, the Court declares the request of the President of the Republic of Kosovo inadmissible," the decision stated.

Days ago, Osmani addressed the Constitutional Court for clarification regarding the appointment of CEC members, after the ruling Vetëvendosje Movement requested three members, and the opposition Democratic Party requested two.

According to Osmani, the parties have made more proposals than is provided for by the Constitution.

Nine new members of the CEC were sworn in before Osmani on March 27, and one more member must be sworn in to complete this institution.

Osman's request to the Constitutional Court was criticized by the NGO coalition, Democracy in Action, saying that the Constitutional Court had already decided earlier on the division of CEC members.

The CEC is a permanent independent body and is responsible for the organization and implementation of elections in Kosovo. The CEC has a chairperson and ten other members.

According to the Constitution, six members are appointed by members of the six largest Albanian parliamentary groups, while one member is appointed by deputies who hold guaranteed seats for the Serbian community, and three members by deputies who hold guaranteed seats for other non-majority communities.

If fewer groups are represented in the Assembly, the largest group or groups may appoint additional members, according to the Constitution.

President Osmani had asked parliamentary parties on March 9 to propose candidates for members of the CEC.

They had until March 16 to respond to her request, giving the president five days to decide whether or not to appoint the nominees.

According to the Law on General Elections, the appointment of CEC members must be made no later than 60 days after the certification of the results.

The results of the December elections were certified on February 9./REL