The constitutional court of Kosovo has declared the government an illegitimate one, triggering fresh elections in the Balkan country.  

The Court ruled on December 21 that the election of the government of Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti was illegal because one member of parliament (Etem Arifi) who voted for the government had previously been convicted of a crime. According to the constitution in Kosovo, a deputy’s mandate comes to an end when the deputy is convicted and sentenced to one or more years in prison a court.

This is a victory for leftist-nationalist opposition party Vetëvendosje (Self-Determination), who brought the complaint before the court. “We have been waiting for such a decision from the Constitutional Court considering that only ten days after the Hoti government was voted in, Vetevendosje reached the conclusion that one vote was illegal,” Albulena Haxhiu of Vetëvendosje told newsmen. 

What Happened?

Arifi was sentenced to 15 months in jail in August 2019 for diverting 26,000 Euros of public money given to an NGO for his personal use. He, however, ran for the new parliament in October of the same year and was elected. The electoral commission claimed it was not informed of Arifi’s sentence before the general election in October last year. 

In September 2020, he turned himself in to the police in Kosovo and is now serving time, making his vote invalid and the number of votes received insufficient for Hoti’s government to remain in power. The government was elected by 61 deputies (the minimum vote) of the 120-seat parliament following the dismissal of the previous government.

What Next for Kosovo?

The Hoti Government has accepted the court’s decision and consultations have now begun with political parties and other stakeholders for a new date to be set. The elections are required to hold within 40 days. The current government will continue serving until parliament elects a new one.