The Vetevendosje party in Kosovo has appealed to the Supreme Court the decision of a lower panel of judges to bar its leader Albin Kurti from running in the February 14 elections.
Blerim Sallahu of Vetevendosje reiterated for the media on Wednesday, after filing the appeal, that the exclusion of its five MP candidates from the electoral lists is “unjust”.
The Central Election Commission (CEC) refused to certify the electoral list of Vetevendosje, arguing that five of its candidates were sentenced for criminal charges in the last three years. An appeals panel decided that the CEC must exclude those candidates and certify the rest of the list.
Their decisions relied on a recent Constitutional Court ruling that demanded the exclusion from electoral lists of those who received a final court sentence for criminal charges in the last three years.
Kurti, who was the most voted politician in last year’s elections, received a suspended sentence in 2018 after he and his colleagues threw tear gas in parliament in an attempt to prevent the approval of border delimitation with Montenegro, which they consider unjust. They claim they have the right to run in elections.
The Supreme Court’s ruling will be the final one to determine whether Kurti and others will be able to stay in the electoral list.
