U.S. Embassy Statement on Central Elections Commission decision, 22 September 2017
Today’s decision by the Central Elections Commission (CEC) implements the orders of the Supreme Court to re-certify candidates that had previously been disqualified based on the Law on Elections. We understand the CEC’s decision to restore all 89 de-certified candidates in reaction to the Court’s ruling.
We regret, however, that the result of that decision is to undo the exemplary work of the Central Elections Commission (CEC) and of the Election Complaint and Appeals Panel (ECAP) to enforce the Law on Elections’ prohibition on candidates with criminal convictions. We continue to support the spirit and intention of that provision of the Law on Elections. We call on the relevant state institutions to correct any legal ambiguity about this provision before the next election cycle in Kosovo. We believe voters are seeking candidates who are free from the taint of criminality.
