Gazment Bardhi, on behalf of the DP Parliamentary Group, has asked the President of the Republic Bajram Begaj not to interfere through his Cabinet, in the process of administering the elections. Referring to the case of KAS member Ilirjan Rusmali, who turns out to be at the same time the Legal Advisor to the President of the Republic, Bardhi clarifies that the commitment of the President's Cabinet in the election administration process means that the Institution of the President of the Republic is seriously violating the principle of neutrality and representing the unity of the people.
"Your interference in the electoral process, through your Cabinet, undermines the figure of the President of the Republic and makes him a party to the certification of a complete electoral farce, as proved by the OSCE-ODIHR Observer Preliminary Report, which emphasizes the merger of the state with the ruling party. It is unacceptable that the merger of the state with the ruling party extends to the figure of the President of the Republic or the Institution of the President of the Republic. This irreversibly damages your role and responsibility as the Head of State, as a constitutional institution over the political parties or as the unifier of the people", writes Bardhi.
The full letter that the DP Parliamentary Group has sent to the President of the Republic:
Dear Mr. President of the Republic,
With great concern and in flagrant violation of the principle of political neutrality of the Institution of the President of the Republic, the Parliamentary Group of the Democratic Party has become acquainted with the fact of the inclusion of your Cabinet in the electoral process for the general parliamentary elections of May 11. According to the Constitution and the law, the President of the Republic and the Institution of the President of the Republic is an independent constitutional body, without any role in the election administration process.
However, contrary to your responsibility and that of the Institution of the President of the Republic, the involvement in the election administration process through your Legal Advisor Mr. Ilirjan Rusmali, in the role of a member of the Appeals and Sanctions Commission (KAS) in the Central Election Commission, is proven. Regarding the role and responsibility that KAS has in the election process, the legal way of electing its members, as well as the constitutional process of electing the President of the Republic or the subsequent constitutional responsibilities of the President of the Republic regarding the outcome of the elections, the engagement of your Cabinet in the process of administering the elections at an earlier stage, it is a flagrant unconstitutional interference of the Institution of the President of the Republic in the elections.
This intervention by you or the Institution of the President of the Republic in the electoral process contradicts Article 86 of the Constitution, which states that "The President of the Republic is the Head of State and represents the unity of the people". Through the engagement of your Cabinet in the process of administering the elections, the Institution of the President of the Republic is seriously violating the principle of representing the unity of the people.
Your interference in the electoral process, through your Cabinet, undermines the figure of the President of the Republic and makes him a party to the certification of a complete electoral farce, as proved by the OSCE-ODIHR Preliminary Observer Report, which emphasizes the merger of the state with the ruling party. It is unacceptable that the merger of the state with the ruling party extends to the figure of the President of the Republic or the Institution of the President of the Republic. This irreversibly damages your role and responsibility as the Head of State, as a constitutional institution over the political parties or as the unifier of the people.
If the Institution of the President of the Republic in violation of the Constitution has decided to actively participate in the electoral process or to merge with the ruling party, this act constitutes an assassination attempt on democracy and the Constitution itself, where it is emphasized that "Governance is based on a system of free and equal elections". If the ruling party in the process of certifying the electoral farce also has the active involvement of the Institution of the President of the Republic, through the engagement of your Cabinet, then the dividing line between the state and the party is violated in the most flagrant way.
Mr. President of the Republic,
In accordance with your constitutional role, you should clarify whether you have authorized the involvement of your Cabinet in the certification of the "elections", whether the positions of your Cabinet in the public attack on the representatives of the Democratic Party in the CEC also represent the positions of the President of the Republic, as well as immediately terminate your involvement/engagement, through the Cabinet, in the process of administering the elections, because according to the Constitution and the Law, the Institution of the President of the Republic has no such responsibility. You have the immediate responsibility to interrupt the merger of the state with the ruling party and to maintain the impartiality and political neutrality of the Institution of the President of the Republic in the electoral process.