Siroka-Pulja Visits Prekaz After Taking Office

Kosovo’s new president, Justina Siroka-Pulja, made Prekaz her first official stop, and later visited the graves of Ibrahim Rugova and Adem Demaci, according to a statement from her office. She also held her first meeting in the new role with Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

She took office at a ceremony in front of the Assembly of Kosovo building in Pristina. Acting President Albulena Haxhiu handed her the Constitution of Kosovo. According to public broadcaster RTK, the ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Kurti, Kosovo Security Force commander Bashkim Jashari, and representatives of institutions and political parties.

What did Siroka-Pulja say in Prekaz and at the graves?

In Prekaz she said: “Prekaz remains a symbol of unmatched endurance and sacrifice for the homeland.”

At Ibrahim Rugova’s grave she said his role was of great importance in what she called the most significant period in Kosovo’s history. “His political legacy and his vision for a free, democratic and Western-oriented Kosovo are a guide for us,” the president stressed.

At the grave of activist Adem Demaci she paid tribute to his life and work, saying he dedicated his entire life to the freedom and dignity of the people of Kosovo. Her office said in the statement: “Through his determination and sacrifice, Demaci became a symbol of resistance and defiance in the face of injustice.” Siroka-Pulja described the visits as a reminder of the foundations on which Kosovo was built.

What did Kurti say after the first meeting?

After meeting the new president, the prime minister said Kosovo now has a great deal of work ahead. According to Pristina media, Kurti said:

I thanked her very much for honoring us by accepting the candidacy. Now we have a lot of work ahead of us. Kosovo, finally, after more than a year, has functioning institutions, and now we have no time to waste. We must unite around the challenges facing the state.

Deutsche Welle reports that after a long political and institutional crisis, Kosovo elected its president in the final hours before the constitutional deadline expired, which avoided a repeat of snap parliamentary elections.

How did she become head of state?

Siroka-Pulja was elected at an extraordinary Assembly session a few minutes after midnight, when the deadline set by the Constitutional Court for electing a president ran out. She received 81 votes from lawmakers after a deal between the governing Self-Determination movement and the opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo (DPK). In her speech after the vote, she said she would be a president for all citizens and accepted the office with great honor and responsibility.

She is 72 and an economist. She is the third woman to hold the office since 1999, after Atifete Jahjaga and Vjosa Osmani. Before the election she headed the Academy of Sciences and Arts in Pristina. She was also minister of energy and mining from 2008 to 2011 in the government of Hashim Thaci, and a DPK lawmaker from 2011 to 2014.

What is her first task?

According to Deutsche Welle, the new president’s first task is to promulgate the amended Law on the Specialist Chambers, which parliament passed on the night of October 6, before the election. Amending the law was a DPK condition put to Kurti and his party. The amended law shortens the period the court covers to July 1, 1999 through December 31, 2000, sets a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, and provides for pardons that would be granted by the president.

DPK leader Bedri Hamza, whose party initiated the amendments, said:

The law does not aim to abolish the Specialist Chambers or to prevent investigations into the cases for which they were established, including the allegations of organ trafficking. On the contrary, the goal is to define more clearly the limits of the court’s mandate and powers.

Political analyst Naim Rashiti of the Balkans Policy Research Group told Deutsche Welle that Kosovo’s move “came too late and could be interpreted as interference in the work of the Specialist Chambers.” Still, he does not believe Kosovo can intervene to that extent or that it will take steps that would endanger the court’s work and mandate. Kurti has said the Specialist Chambers’ September 16 verdict, in which Thaci and three other former KLA leaders were convicted at first instance, contains “factual, historical and legal errors” that must be corrected on appeal.