Skopje, 3 June 2024 (MIA) – A third candidate for president of the Constitutional Court also failed in his bid to be elected at Monday’s resumption of the session for the election of a new head of the institution, confirms the Constitutional Court.

According to several media reports, it was the Constitutional Court judge Osman Kadriu who wasn’t elected after being nominated. 

This was the eighth failed attempt of the Constitutional Court members after seven attempts at last week’s resumptions of the session to elect a president. Earlier today, judge Ana Pavlovska Daneva withdrew her nomination and her opponent Tanja Vasikj Bozadzieva didn’t secure the required majority. 

“So as not to allow the country to be pushed into a constitutional crisis, I withdrew [my nomination] and asked the court to vote in accordance with the principle of meritocracy, according to the professional qualifications and managerial capacities of the candidates. Judge Vasikj remains the only candidate,” judge Pavlovska Daneva told MIA. 

The new Constitutional Court president will succeed Dobrila Kacarska, whose three-year term ended on June 2. 

According to the Court's Rules of Procedure, the Constitutional Court elects the president from among the judges with a two-thirds majority of the total number of judges in a secret vote during a session.

Each judge is allowed to nominate a candidate.

The candidate for future Constitutional Court president is determined by a commission of three judges elected by the majority from the total number of judges.

If the candidate does not receive the required majority vote, the election procedure repeats.

The candidate elected represents the Constitutional Court, signs decisions, decrees, and other related acts, implements the Court's Rules of Procedure, and performs other tasks. In case of absence, or incapacity, the president is replaced by a judge according to the order established by the Court and alphabetized by last name.

The president of the Constitutional Court serves a three-year mandate, without the right for re-election. 

Photo: MIA archive