The Acting President of the Republic of Kosovo, Albulena Haxhiu, together with the Acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti and the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice, Donika Gërvalla, held a discussion with the delegates of the then Assembly, on the occasion of the 36th anniversary of the Constitutional Declaration of July 2nd.
On this occasion, Acting President Haxhiu said that on July 2nd 1990, the doors of the Assembly were closed to the delegates of Kosovo.
She further said that the image of that day begins with closed doors, with police in front of the Assembly, with delegates outside the hall and with a government that, after having taken away Kosovo’s autonomy, sought to take away its political voice.
“But the mandate comes from the people, and that day the Kosovo delegates proved this by speaking on behalf of Kosovo outside of the Assembly hall. Without that scene, one cannot understand July 2nd. The regime thought that it had stopped a meeting of the Assembly, while it had left behind a sight that Kosovo would never forget, delegates who stood outside the hall but who had entered history”, said Acting President Haxhiu.
Acting President Haxhiu emphasized that at that time, Kosovo was facing organized state violence, adding that it did not only show through the violence exercised by the then police, but also in the attack on institutions, schools, work, language and the very right of Kosovo Albanians to decide for themselves.
“Serbia aimed for more than the governance of Kosovo. It aimed to leave it without a political voice and without the possibility of it appearing as an independent subject. The Constitutional Declaration of July 2nd was issued against this”, emphasized Acting President Haxhiu.
According to Acting President Haxhiu, Kosovo at that time had very little space, but there were people who knew how to use even that little space with wisdom and courage, among them were the delegates who approved the Declaration, the people who drafted and supported it, as well as all those who understood that Kosovo politics should speak the language of law, not the language of subjugation.
“In this history, a special place belongs to academician Gazmend Zajmi, one of the minds that gave the Declaration legal clarity and constitutional order. The text of July 2nd had five points, each of which pushed Kosovo out of the position imposed by Serbia. The Declaration defined the act as political self-determination, established Kosovo as an independent and equal unit within the Federation, namely the Confederation of Yugoslavia, and confirmed it as a political-constitutional community of equal citizens and communities. It rejected Serbia’s 1989 amendments and decided that the Assembly and the political community it represented would be publicly named only as Kosovo. When Muharrem Shabani read the Declaration in front of the Assembly building, Kosovo publicly articulated its political position. Kosovo refused to be treated as a subordinate province, but demanded to be recognized as an independent and equal unit,” asserted Acting President Haxhiu.
According to her, after July 2nd came September 7th, the Kaçanik Constitution, then the referendum for independence and all the organizations of the 1990s. She said that Kosovo tried to keep itself afloat with the institutions it created, with the Albanian school, with the university, with political life and with the citizens who refused to accept as permanent the injustice that had been imposed on them.
“The political path of the 1990s took on its full meaning with the Kosovo Liberation Army. The KLA took upon itself the heaviest burden of our new history, the war for the liberation of the country. The sacrifice of the martyrs, the resistance of the fighters, the violence against civilians, the mass expulsion and ethnic cleansing made it clear to the world that Kosovo was not seeking political privilege, but freedom from oppression and organized state violence. After the KLA’s liberation war and the intervention of our allies, Kosovo entered a new political phase. On February 17th, 2008, it declared its Republic as an independent, sovereign and democratic state. That day sealed before the world a demand that had been formulated much earlier, in political decisions, in constitutional acts, in organization, in war and in sacrifice,” said Acting President Haxhiu.
For this reason, according to Acting President President Haxhiu, July 2nd cannot remain on the sidelines of this history, it is the moment when Kosovo spoke on its own behalf and refused to let Serbia decide in its stead.
“With the Constitutional Declaration, the demand for a Republic emerged from the political call and entered the institutional language of Kosovo’s representatives. Today, the Republic of Kosovo honors the delegates of July 2nd with deep and permanent gratitude. We honor those who are among us. We remember with respect those who are no longer alive”, emphasized Acting President Haxhiu.
She further said that gratitude also belongs to their families, because politics, in such moments, does not only rest on documents.
“It turns into fear within the home and anxiety for the person who has undertaken to say what the regime seeks to prohibit. The delegates of July 2nd had neither the comfort of a normal session, nor the security that a free state offers. In front of them was a regime that sought to transform violence into a constitutional order. This places their act at the political foundation of the Republic,” asserted Acting President Haxhiu.
She further stated that today, as we remember July 2nd, we must keep the political meaning of that day clear.
Acting President Haxhiu said that Kosovo refused to be spoken on its behalf by Serbia, refused to allow violence to become a constitutional order, refused to allow the will of the people to be replaced by the police and imposed amendments.
“Today’s Republic honors July 2nd when it defends its sovereignty in every corner, when it keeps its institutions at the service of its citizens and when it makes it clear that its citizens decide for Kosovo. Permanent honor to the delegates of July 2nd. Honor to all those who thought of, defended and advanced the idea of the Republic of Kosovo”, said Acting President Haxhiu.
