Vetëvendosje Movement has stated that it has secured the votes needed to form the new Government after the June 7 elections, while for the election of the president it has announced that it will seek agreement with other parties, following the failure of this process several months earlier that led the country to early elections.
In a statement to Radio Free Europe, the former head of LVV’s Parliamentary Group, Arbërie Nagavci, said that the votes for the Government have already been secured and that, as soon as the Assembly is constituted, procedures to vote it in should continue without losing time. She added that, within the constitutional deadlines, LVV will also work to reach a consensus on electing the president.
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The party of acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti came first in the snap June 7 elections with 47.13 percent of the vote, securing 53 seats in the 120-member Assembly.
A total of 61 votes are needed to form the Government, meaning that LVV can build the executive with the support of non-Serb minority parties, which have also backed the current cabinet.
On the other hand, electing the president requires that at least 80 lawmakers take part in the vote in the first two rounds. It was precisely disagreements over this post that led the country to the early June 7 elections.
Nagavci said that LVV will do “everything” within its mandate to secure the necessary votes to elect the new head of state.
According to her, lawmakers who have won the trust of citizens should show responsibility and elect the president, so that the current deadlock can be overcome, new elections avoided, and institutions can continue their work with full powers.
Kosovo has had an acting president since April, when Vjosa Osmani’s five-year constitutional mandate ended. Meanwhile, parties are waiting for the certification of the results to begin consultations on creating the new institutions.
At present, the Supreme Court is reviewing several complaints and has until Tuesday to address them, while the Central Election Commission is awaiting its ruling before proceeding with the certification of the results.
Regarding meetings between the parties, Nagavci said that this process will be led by Albin Kurti, who will hold them “with the aim of finding the best solution for overcoming the situation.”
Political scientist Dritëro Arifi, however, sees this approach as an indication that LVV is not ready to enter into a broad political compromise.
He says that if the same logic continues, without negotiations to build something positive, the outcome could be roughly the same as last year. According to him, Nagavci’s statement signals that LVV is not ready for co-governing, but only for the election of a president, whoever he or she may be, which in his view would mean acting according to LVV’s orders.
LVV has called for the country to have a consensus president and months ago proposed two names from civil society, Feride Rushiti and Hatixhe Hoxha. But since no agreement was reached with opposition parties, its candidates did not receive the necessary votes.
Regarding efforts to elect the president, Arifi described Nagavci’s statement as “without logic, without substance, pure populist politics,” emphasizing that different parties have come out with certain conditions for cooperation with Kurti’s LVV.
Radio Free Europe sent questions to the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) regarding consultations on the formation of institutions, but by the time of publication had not received a response.
PDK leader Bedri Hamza said one day after the election that the country’s second political force is open to talks with all parties, not excluding LVV.
He said that in order to have swift and stable institutions, a political agreement should be reached now, before the constitution of the Assembly, the formation of the Government, and then the election of the president.
A few days earlier, Hamza said that before discussions on possible governing cooperation, there are a number of topics that need to be addressed with the winning party, such as wages and pensions, energy capacities, American gas, and Kosovo’s membership in the European Union.
On the other hand, the LDK, which ran in the election with Vjosa Osmani as its presidential candidate, has set several preconditions for an agreement on the creation of new institutions.
Its chairman, Lumir Abdixhiku, said in a recent interview with Klan Kosova that strategic orientation, including American gas, constitutes the LDK’s “precondition for political existence.”
He stressed that there must first be discussion about projects, governing principles, and the direction Kosovo will take over the next four years, and only afterward should positions be discussed.
According to Abdixhiku, for his party it is vital that before an agreement is reached on the president, there must first be an agreement on the state’s orientation.
He said that before deciding on the president, there must be agreement on Kosovo’s orientation, on strategic security policies, on development policies, and on how democracy will develop in Kosovo.
Meanwhile, the Alliance has put forward six conditions in exchange for support for the creation of new institutions.
The leader of this party, Adrian Gjini, has among other things mentioned as a condition Kosovo’s acceptance of the American gas project, the construction of a coal-fired power plant, and several other demands related to the economy.
Commenting on the opposition’s conditions, Arifi said that, given the way this Government has operated, Mr. Kurti will not take these conditions as a basis, because they would then constitute interference in co-governing. According to him, they do not want co-governing, but only an agreement on the president.
He added that there is no normal opposition party that would give blank support for the president without there being transformation and change in governing policies.
The acting Government is facing calls from the U.S. Embassy, opposition parties, and business chambers to become part of regional initiatives for the liquefied natural gas (LNG) network, backed by the United States.
However, so far, the executive has given no signals that it is ready to become involved in these initiatives, while acting Economy Minister Artane Rizvanolli and acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti have mentioned the idea of gasifying domestic coal.
According to Arifi, the issue of American gas should have been one of the parties’ conditions for the creation of institutions because, as he says, only Kosovo is being left outside this major U.S. project. He adds that this should be one of the important points, but not the only one.
He believes that even if opposition parties vote for the president and even if hypothetically LVV agrees to reconsider the idea of American gas, there is no constitutional or legal guarantee that they will keep their word. According to him, in these six years, it has not kept a single promise before and after coming to power.
If the parties fail to reach an agreement on the president, the country risks going to elections again. These would be the fourth since February 2025.
According to Arifi, there is no real climate or effort to build a positive atmosphere that would pull the country out of this deadlock.
According to the final results, the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) won 19.44 percent, or 22 mandates, in the June 7 elections; the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) 16.69 percent, or 18 seats; while the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) – which has recently decided to use only the name Alliance – 6.74 percent, or seven mandates. / RFE
