The Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, today held a lecture on “Parliamentarianism and current challenges”, for AAB students where she spoke about important issues faced by the highest representative body and legislature of the Republic of Kosovo.
According to Osmani, in the 90s, the Assembly of Kosovo, which emerged from the elections of the parallel voting system, built by President Ibrahim Rugova, was not just a body where only ideas were discussed, as it happens today. The parliament, at that time, was a resistance to the occupiers, it was a resistance to Serbia; it was a resistance to a genocidal regime, said Osmani, while emphasizing that nowadays citizens have lost faith in the Assembly of Kosovo, for several reasons.
“For many years now, the Parliament of Kosovo has been considered only as a confirmation stamp for government decisions, many citizens have lost faith in it. Because they do not see it as a place where control takes place, where supervision takes place, a place which serves as a kind of filter or a controller that keeps the decisions of the government in check. So, this is one of the challenges that we have faced over the years and it is one of the issues mentioned in the vast majority of European Commission reports.” – said Osmani.
According to Osmani, a strong parliament should have budgetary independence, and that the Government cannot allocate the budget to the parliament, which according to her, is budgetary pressure.
The Speaker of the parliament said that there were efforts by some for the Assembly not to interfere in the issue of the pandemic, where for four months, legal initiatives started by her and other MPs have been blocked.
“The most urgent challenge is the pandemic. As you know, some have been saying that the Assembly has no powers to interfere with the issue of the pandemic, and for four months a legal initiative that we initiated was blocked” – added the Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo.
President Osmani also spoke about current political developments, emphasizing that the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue is another topic that is wasting the energy of Kosovo institutions.
Osmani sees the creation of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities as a dangerous decision for the country: “Regarding the Association of Serbian Municipalities, I think it is one of the most dangerous decisions taken by Kosovo institutions. An autonomy for Serbs in the North is just a warning of what’s to come in the subsequent partition. It’s just as dangerous as partition, only delayed a little.” – said the Speaker of the Assembly, Vjosa Osmani.
In today’s lecture, which was followed by a discussion session with students, Speaker Osmani announced that the Assembly of Kosovo has begun work on a new Rules of Procedure of the Assembly.
