The rejection of a political agreement by six members of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) has triggered one of the party’s most serious internal crises in recent years.
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MPs Avdullah Hoti, Hykmete Bajrami, Kujtim Shala, Armend Zemaj, Arben Gashi and Janina Ymeri did not support the LDK’s agreement with the Vetëvendosje Movement (LVV) on the election of Bekim Sejdiu as president. By taking this position, they opposed the decision of the LDK Presidency.
The clash is not only about the fate of the agreement on the election of the president. It has exposed divisions within the LDK, increased the risk of new elections in Kosovo and revived the question of whether the party can emerge united from this situation.
Political observers do not offer a definitive answer as to whether the conflict could end with the LDK’s formal split. However, they agree that the political damage to the party has already been done.
LDK leader Lumir Abdixhiku described the six MPs’ rejection as “irreparable damage to the entire process” and warned that the development could lead Kosovo to early parliamentary elections.
Meanwhile, LVV leader Albin Kurti has stated that the agreement with the LDK remains in force, despite the MPs’ opposition.
Analyst Artan Muhaxhiri believes that the split within the LDK is already present, even though it has not yet turned into an official division.
“The LDK is already divided ideologically. Two opposing ways of political thinking are evident, particularly regarding responsibility for the party’s legacy and the trajectory of its future,” Muhaxhiri told Radio Free Europe.
According to him, the main responsibility for this situation lies with Abdixhiku. Muhaxhiri says that, before reaching an agreement with the LVV, the LDK leader should have consulted the MPs who held different positions and found “unifying modalities”, instead of confronting them with a decision that had already been made.
Analyst Yll Hoxha considers the latest conflict a sign of a deeper problem within the party. He recalls that Abdixhiku’s leadership has been challenged twice through votes within the LDK in less than a year.
Although he survived both confrontations, Abdixhiku, according to Hoxha, failed to restore the party’s cohesion.
After the elections of December 28, 2025, when the LDK received 13 percent of the vote and came in third, Abdixhiku sought the party’s vote of confidence in January 2026 and won it.
His position was called into question again in July, after a group of LDK members demanded his resignation. The demands followed the June 7 elections, but on that occasion as well, Abdixhiku retained control of the party.
However, Hoxha says the latest developments show that the confrontation has not been resolved. He does not believe that the six MPs’ vote against the agreement was solely related to Bekim Sejdiu’s candidacy, but sees it primarily as opposition to the LDK leadership.
“I am not sure that these divisions will split the LDK, but I am absolutely certain that they will damage it. Something that could be in the LDK’s interest is being rejected [by the six MPs], giving priority to internal rivalry,” Hoxha told Radio Free Europe.
The debate has also moved beyond the party’s structures. Following the failure of the agreement, Abdixhiku and several of the MPs who opposed it publicly expressed opposing positions.
Abdixhiku stated that the failure to support the candidacy proposed by the LDK had also determined “the country’s fate: new elections”.
Avdullah Hoti, meanwhile, said that Sejdiu’s candidacy “does not reflect the political and principled interests of the Democratic League of Kosovo and its electorate”.
Hykmete Bajrami justified her opposition by pointing to the concentration of power in Albin Kurti’s hands.
“For me, it is unacceptable that today, in the name of resolving the institutional crisis, we should become part of an agreement that extends Albin Kurti’s concentrated power,” she said.
Radio Free Europe attempted throughout Wednesday to contact the six MPs to obtain their position on the possibility that the rejection could lead the country to new elections and on the responsibility that should be assumed for such a development. None of them responded.
The crisis within the LDK could have consequences for the entire country, particularly for the process of electing the president.
For this process to proceed, at least 80 of the 120 members of Kosovo’s Assembly must take part in the vote.
The first two rounds require 80 votes, while the third round requires 61 votes, provided that at least 80 MPs are present in the chamber. If the president is not elected in the third round either, the Assembly is dissolved and new elections must be held within 45 days.
The LVV holds 53 seats, while the LDK holds 18.
However, following the opposition of the six MPs, Abdixhiku said that only 12 LDK MPs were ready to vote for Sejdiu.
Even if this figure includes MPs from the non-Serb communities who have cooperated with the LVV, the votes still fall short of the required threshold.
The Democratic Party of Kosovo has announced that it will remain in opposition and will not support the agreement with Kurti. The Alliance, meanwhile, has set conditions for supporting the institutions.
Abdixhiku has further toughened his criticism of the six MPs. He said that those who failed to respect the decision of the LDK Presidency “should, if nothing else, have resigned their parliamentary mandates”, although he clarified that he had not asked them to take such action.
Muhaxhiri believes that responsibility for the risk of the process failing cannot be placed solely on the six MPs. According to him, the LVV and the LDK leader also bear responsibility in this situation.
“Their irresponsibility in making public an agreement that was not grounded in reality is the final stage on the road to new elections,” Muhaxhiri said.
Hoxha distributes responsibility across the entire political scene. He says the current deadlock is part of a series of political and institutional crises Kosovo has faced over the past two years.
“Responsibility for this deadlock and for this inability to find solutions lies with the entire political scene, without exception, according to the hierarchy and the powers and support they possess,” he said.
However, Hoxha agrees that the clash within the LDK itself could become the reason Kosovo heads to early elections.
If elections are held, the LDK will face a double challenge: confronting rival parties and managing its internal conflict.
Hoxha believes that a new electoral process, caused by the inability to elect a president, would damage the entire political establishment. For the LDK, the damage would be even greater.
“This time it will also be handicapped by the narrative surrounding how it enters the elections, because it would enter as largely responsible for a process that it itself initiated. The election of Bekim Sejdiu was an LDK initiative. The failure of this process due to internal divisions places a more pronounced burden of blame on the LDK,” Hoxha said.
Muhaxhiri criticizes Abdixhiku’s handling of the crisis even more harshly. According to him, “Abdixhiku brutally hurt the LDK, handing its political enemies ample arguments to benefit from the rift that has been created”.
He warns that, in the event of elections, if Abdixhiku “chooses stubbornness” toward the MPs who opposed the agreement, the LDK could become a “single-digit electorate party”.
“The LDK would be almost nonexistent, would have minimal influence on the political scene and would serve other parties by helping them increase their electorate,” Muhaxhiri said.
According to him, the weakening of the LDK would also affect Kosovo’s overall political balance.
“This would be disappointing not only for the electorate, but would also damage Kosovo’s political spectrum, because the LDK has been part of all state-building processes and has held, and could continue to hold, a special role in the political spectrum as a balancing force. But this depends on the will of its leadership, particularly leader Abdixhiku,” Muhaxhiri said.
The LDK has experience with an internal conflict that ended in the creation of a new party.
Muhaxhiri links the current situation to what he calls “the lesson from 2006”. Following the death of the LDK’s historic leader, Ibrahim Rugova, the party became embroiled in a fierce leadership contest.
The confrontation between Fatmir Sejdiu and Nexhat Daci ended in December 2006 with Sejdiu’s election as LDK chairman.
That, however, did not end the conflict between the two camps. Daci, who has since died, left the LDK and founded the Democratic League of Dardania in 2007.
Almost two decades later, it remains unclear whether the current clash will lead the LDK toward another split.
But the more urgent dilemma is already clear: how can the party ask voters for unity if it cannot build it within its own ranks?!
