People suspected of corruption and criminal offenses and those who are under investigation, may not be included on the candidate lists.

The lack of a law and a code of conduct which sanctions this allows political parties to include people with criminal records or people under investigation on their lists.

The head of the Central Election Commission, Valdete Daka says that candidate lists cannot include people who have been convicted by the court in the past three years. Meanwhile, as far as other people are concerned, she said that it’s up to political parties to decide, as the law makes no provisions for them.

Analyst Vilhard Shala told IBNA that the fact that people under investigation or awaiting a court decision can run for public offices, shows that Kosovo is not yet ready to build a sustainable democratic and parliamentary system.

“In the absence of a code for the decriminalization of the political arena, political parties may include in their lists people who are being investigated or prosecuted. This would damage the image of the state”, he says.

Meanwhile, the US embassy has once again called to political parties to include in their lists people who are not incriminated in corruption affairs.

According to the US embassy, candidates of political parties must act as an example for the citizens of the country, by including women and youngsters.

Meanwhile, the US embassy expects political parties to meet all European standards.

Balkaneu

18 May 2017

Disclaimer: All views, opinions and accounts included in the RAI News Section are those of the authors; their inclusion does not imply official endorsement or acceptance by RAI. The News Section reflects the selection of topics of informative value to the organization and its stakeholders. Its content is taken from press/media sources and does not in any way reflect official RAI Secretariat policy. RAI Secretariat is not responsible for possible inaccuracies in media reports.