Of the 1,280 candidates for MPs who will seek votes on February 9, 23 of them have legal problems. 16 of them face active indictments, while eight have final convictions, including the current Prime Minister Albin Kurti.
These are the findings of the report “Integrity of candidates, rule of law and good governance” compiled by the organizations Fol, IKL and INPO.
"The Vetëvendosje Movement has a total of 14 candidates or 12 percent of this party's list that have problems with the law. The AAK-NISMA coalition has 8 candidates or 7.27% and the LDK has one candidate. Out of a total of 23 candidates who have problems with the law, 16 of them are facing active indictments, while 8 candidates have been convicted of criminal offenses," Burbbuqe Kastrati from the "FOL" Movement told A2 CNN.
Despite this information, the law does not prohibit these 23 candidates from participating in the elections. However, it emphasizes the importance of the people's representatives in the Assembly being equal.
An individual is prohibited from running for election if he/she has been convicted by a final court decision in the last three years for a criminal offense or if he/she has served one or more effective prison sentences.
“The types of criminal offenses include ‘use of a weapon or dangerous instrument’ with a total of 9 cases, ‘abuse of official position or authority’ in 6 cases, ‘unauthorized possession of weapons’ with 5 cases and ‘obstruction of an official person’ and ‘assault and against an official person’ with one case each”, added Kastrati.
Regarding the political parties’ programs on justice, the report finds major differences in their approach and seriousness. The parties are also criticized for not referring at all to the Rule of Law Strategy adopted by the Kosovo Assembly.
The largest parties also promise to establish new prosecutors’ offices and courts that will deal with specific cases without clearly indicating why it is necessary or whether they can be covered by the current courts.
While for other parties, their program on justice is considered very general.
"They mention the issue of rule of law reforms, but they only mention it in a general sense, not providing details on what these reforms look like and how these reforms will affect the increase in the integrity and efficiency and effectiveness of the justice system," Gëzim Shala from the Kosovo Law Institute told A2 CNN.
The electoral programs of the main parties address issues such as transparency, good governance, public administration, gender equality, and human rights, but most of them do not provide clear details on the implementation mechanisms and financial sources of the proposed reforms. (A2 Televizion)
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