Kosovo President Sejdiu resigns after violating constitution
September 28th, 2010 - 3:26 am ICT by BNO NewsPRISTINA, KOSOVO (BNO NEWS) – Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu on Monday resigned after the Constitutional Court announced that he violated Kosovo’s constitution.
Sejdiu breached the Kosovo’s constitution by holding office and the leadership of his party, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), at the same time. He submitted his resignation after learning the court ruling.
Sejdiu was involved in a long meeting with U.S. British, German, French and Italian ambassadors when the ruling was issued. He said his resignation is a sign of respect towards the judiciary, a stance he has held relating all institutions of Kosovo.
In January 2008, Sejdiu was appointed as President for a second mandate. He declared his position as LDK leader as frozen in June 2008, following the adoption of the Kosovo Constitution. He was first elected President by the Kosovo Assembly in early 2006.
An initiative by independent lawmaker Naim Rrustemi against Sejdiu’s two posts was supported by 30 other members of parliament and sent to the Constitutional Court. Last Friday, the court issued its final ruling.
Kosovo is in the midst of controversy as Serbia still does not recognize Kosovo as an independent state despite many countries and international agencies have done so. In Kosovo, ethnic Albanians outnumber ethnic Serbs and other minorities by about nine to one.
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Tags: ambassadors, bno, constitutional court, controversy, democratic league, ethnic albanians, ethnic serbs, independent state, judiciary, kosovo, last friday, lawmaker, ldk, mandate, members of parliament, midst, minorities, president fatmir sejdiu, pristina kosovo, resignation