The Assembly of Kosovo with 68 votes on Friday approved in principle the draft Law on Salaries for the public sector.

The Minister of Interior, Xhelal Sveçla, presenting the draft, said it would reduce the gap between the lowest and highest salaries in the country.

“The president is the head of the state and holds the highest coefficient, the president of the constitutional court is placed between the president and the representative of the powers and has a separate coefficient from other positions; further, the principle of privacy has been respected,” he noted.

It is not yet known officially what the coefficient is, however.

Although the opposition has given support for the law, it has requested changes be made between the two readings.

The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Kosovo and the Teachers’ Union held a strike in the public sector from August 25 to October 1 demanding a salary increase of 100 euros for all public sector employees until the Law on Salaries is approved and implemented.

 In February, media reported that the coefficients would range from 1 to 20. This was met with dissatisfaction by public officials.

In the draft, the value of the coefficient is not determined for the first year of implementation of the law, while in subsequent years it should be determined in the Law on the budget. 

Since then, no other draft or proposal has been presented by the government.

On June 30, 2020, the Constitutional Court declared the Law on Salaries in the Public Sector invalid. It said the law was not in compliance with 11 articles of the Constitution.

On December 6, 2019, the Law was sent to the Constitutional Court by the People’s Advocate for evaluation of its compatibility with the Constitution.

The law was first approved by the government headed by Ramush Haradinaj.

The draft Law foresees that it will enter into force one month after its publication in the Official Gazette.