One vote causes collapse of parliament. The original winning party was elected 61-59, but the convicted member’s vote was negated by the court, making a new election necessary.
From Balkan Insight.
The Constitutional Court ruled on Monday that Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti’s government is illegitimate because it was voted in by a majority in the Kosovo Assembly that included a vote cast by MP Etem Arifi, who was given a prison sentence for corruption.
“A person convicted of a criminal offence by a final court decision in the three last years cannot be a candidate for deputy or win a valid mandate in the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo,” the Constitutional Court said.
Arifi was sentenced to one year and three months in prison on August 20, 2019. He received an MP’s mandate less than two months later, at snap parliamentary elections on October 6, 2019.
As Arifi’s vote for Hoti’s government was therefore invalid, “the government did not receive the majority of votes of all deputies of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo”, the court’s decision said.
New elections must now be held within a couple of months, according to the court’s decision, and Kosovo will have its third change of government in less than two years.
https://balkaninsight.com/2020/12/22/kosovo-faces-new-elections-after-court-rules-govt-illegitimate/
Not planet-shaking, but indicating a court that insists on adherence to rules and laws.
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