The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology appointed Ekrem Kastrati as general secretary despite a British vetting procedure ending with no recommended candidates for the job.

The appointment comes weeks after civil society organizations and the British embassy in Kosovo reacted against the appointment of unqualified and political people in high civil servant positions.

On Tuesday, two MPs across the aisle presented an initiative to establish a parliamentary commission to investigate government appointments that violate a memorandum signed with the British embassy, which states that all such appointments must be vetted by an independent British agency first.

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Kastrati was one of the 15 candidates who applied for the position, explained Public Administration Minister Mahir Yagcilar during a cabinet meeting. After a short-list and interviews, none of the candidates were recommended for the position.

“After the interview, the commission and the partners at the embassy of the United Kingdom issued the recommendation that none of the candidates showed satisfactory results for general secretary,” Yagcilar explained.

The Minister also said that he had presented this recommendation to Education Minister Shyqiri Bytyqi, who, according to Yagcilar, preferred Kastrati.

Despite the vetting process, Kastrati’s appointment was then voted and approved by the Haradinaj cabinet yesterday.

This is the second instance in which the Haradinaj government has violated the memorandum signed in October last year with the British embassy to employ a British company to vet candidates. On February 3, the government appointed Burim Rrecaj as Secretary at the Ministry of Trade and Industry even though he was ranked fourth among candidates.