On Friday, Vetëvendosje Movement (LVV) leader Albin Kurti held consultative meetings with Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) chairman Bedri Hamza and Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) leader Lumir Abdixhiku, as part of efforts to create new institutions after the parliamentary elections.
After the talks with Hamza, Kurti said the meeting had been constructive, but clarified that there was still no concrete agreement.
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He stressed that no specific deal had yet emerged from the meeting, though he considered it an important step in the ongoing consultations.
“At the moment I cannot say that we have any concrete result or any achievement, but I hope that this spirit of constructiveness will prevail and that, in accordance with the constitutional deadlines, we will manage to constitute the institutions and give the country the speaker of parliament, the prime minister and the new president,” he said.
Kurti said the consultations would also extend to other political parties and announced that later in the afternoon he would meet Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) leader Lumir Abdixhiku.
“We must be optimistic about the road ahead. This afternoon I will also meet LDK chairman Lumir Abdixhiku, and I hope that the three parties will gather their MPs and constitute all the institutions of the 11th legislature,” he said.
According to Kurti, the Constitutional Court’s 2011 ruling provides for the support of 80 MPs for the election of the president, and he assessed that LVV, PDK and LDK together have the necessary numbers for this.
He also expressed regret that Alliance chairman Ardian Gjini had not agreed to hold a consultative meeting.
“When I added up the number of MPs, I did not say plus seven, because the chairman of the Alliance did not see it as necessary and important to meet with me. I think he should have met with me. It is not right for a respected party such as AAK not to meet with me. Therefore I have to say 93 instead of 100 MPs,” Kurti declared.
The LVV leader said the burden of forming the government falls on the winning party, while the election of the president requires broader agreement among political forces.
“If I, as the winner of the elections, have responsibility for forming the government, the election of the president is not the responsibility only of the winning party, but is intended to happen in cooperation with others. Therefore, as a starting point, we would have a consensual figure, someone who is not part of any political party and who has proven national and institutional values. For governing, the responsibility falls on us, while for the president, the responsibility falls on all of us,” he stressed.
For his part, Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) chairman Bedri Hamza said after the meeting with Albin Kurti that the party he leads will remain in opposition during this mandate.
Speaking to the media, Hamza said the conversation took place in a proper atmosphere and recalled that during the election campaign PDK had entered with a program focused on economic development, social welfare, energy and infrastructure.
“We just finished the meeting with Kurti. In these elections, PDK competed with a program and priorities related to the economy, social welfare, as well as projects in energy and infrastructure. To implement these priorities, PDK has no red lines and is open to discussing comprehensive political agreements,” Hamza said.
However, he clarified that after the discussions, PDK’s position has not changed.
“Based on the talks we had, naturally proper ones, our position is that PDK in this mandate is ready to be in opposition and we wish Kurti success,” he said.
Hamza also stressed that the constitution of the institutions requires cooperation among political parties, including on the issue of electing the president.
“All the other parties cannot elect the president without LVV. LVV must find partners according to their needs and criteria in order to give the country institutions,” he declared.
Later on Friday afternoon, the second meeting was also held between LVV leader Albin Kurti and LDK chairman Lumir Abdixhiku.
After that meeting, Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) chairman Lumir Abdixhiku said the talks had focused on institutional stability and the need to avoid new elections.
He said the sides had agreed that the dialogue would continue in the coming days.
“We talked about institutional stability and the necessary avoidance of elections. At this stage we agreed to continue the talks,” he declared.
Abdixhiku after the meeting with Kurti: It is a good step that we are talking before unilateral decisions
According to Abdixhiku, the discussions did not focus on names, but on principles.
“We talked about principles and, for the LDK, these principles require democratic balance in the country. All sides must contribute to this balance. We were not able to talk about specific names,” Abdixhiku said.
He called the meeting a positive step and added that not all issues could be addressed in a single meeting.
“At this meeting it was impossible to talk about all topics, but it was a good step to continue further in talks. We have 30 days to constitute the Assembly and 60 days to elect the president. What matters is that we are talking before unilateral steps are taken. This gives hope,” he said.
Abdixhiku added that consensus on the principles has still not been reached, but stressed that communication between the sides is continuing.
“We still have not reached consensus on the principles, but we are talking,” the LDK chairman declared.
After the meeting with Abdixhiku and presidential candidate Vjosa Osmani, Albin Kurti said it is still too early to assess whether this meeting can be considered successful or not.
He said that all the main political topics were addressed during the talks, but that so far there is no concrete conclusion.
“We still have four weeks ahead until the start of the constitutive session. There is no topic we have not discussed, but we still do not have any conclusion to share with you,” he said.
Kurti said he remains optimistic about the course of the dialogue among the political parties.
“I am optimistic about the rationality that is prevailing in these meetings. It is an undertaking that requires trust and time for results. We also have the confidentiality of these talks. We have discussed the government and the Assembly, but also the president, while the focus has been on current political developments,” he declared.
The LVV leader underlined that his party’s goal remains reaching a political agreement that would avoid new elections.
“We are interested in an agreement so that we do not have elections. The common goal is to avoid elections. We aim for political agreements, because we are political entities,” Kurti said.
