Hashim Thaci has suggested a referendum on proposals to change borders as part of a deal between Kosovo and Serbia to normalise relations, but analysts pointed out that no law currently exists in Kosovo that would allow such a plebiscite.
On Tuesday, Thaci said that he had rejected the partition of Kosovo or the exchange of territories as part of a deal with Serbia, but proposed putting any agreement with Belgrade to a popular vote.
“In such a situation, there is no other way than strengthening the decision-making of the citizens of Kosovo by allowing them decide who is right and which option is in Kosovo’s interest. Thus it is necessary to make the right to a referendum possible for citizens, and I am working to make it a reality,” Thaci wrote on Facebook.
The current legal framework does not allow Kosovo to hold a referendum because parliament has not adopted yet a law on it.
“For 10 years now, political leaders did not want to have a Law on Referendums through which citizens could initiate issues for a vote… It is a must for Kosovo to have such a law, and it should be a priority for parliament to approve it,” Mazllum Baraliu, a Law University professor, told BIRN.
“It cannot be done within days,” Baraliu added.
Currently, Kosovo MPs are on summer vacation and so far, there has been no action to draft any such law.
Baraliu said he saw other hurdles impeding Thaci’s idea.
“Issues that are in contradiction with the constitution cannot be up for a referendum,” he said.
For more read the full of article at The Balkaninsight
