Crisis over presidential agreement exposes divisions within LDK

Three days after Vetëvendosje Movement leader Albin Kurti and Democratic League of Kosovo chairman Lumir Abdixhiku reached an agreement to support Bekim Sejdiu’s candidacy for president, the situation has taken an unexpected turn. Six LDK MPs have voiced opposition to the agreement, making it impossible to secure the 80 MPs needed for the vote to take place in the Assembly. Despite this, acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti remains convinced that the political agreement with the LDK on electing the head of state has not yet collapsed. He believes talks will continue, although Lumir Abdixhiku himself has warned that, amid this internal division, the country is heading toward new elections.

Kurti: Optimism has not been lost

Albin Kurti said that the LDK chairman had briefed him on the situation within his party and that he, in turn, had informed Abdixhiku about discussions within the VV parliamentary group. According to Kurti, a new meeting of the party leadership is needed to assess the remaining alternatives. “We remain optimistic, although the situation is more difficult than before,” he stressed, blaming the six LDK MPs for seeking to send the country to elections again.

On the presidential issue, Kurti also enjoys the support of non-Serb minorities, whose representatives he met on Wednesday evening. He said that ten people attended the meeting: five members of the government and five representatives in the next legislature. The group consisted of two Bosniaks, two Turks, two Egyptians, and one Serb, one Ashkali and one Roma. Kurti thanked them for their assistance and added that they would work together to avoid elections now that an agreement exists. However, he acknowledged that “the political situation has become more difficult,” particularly following the latest developments within the LDK.

Meanwhile, Lumir Abdixhiku described as unfounded the argument by the six “rebel” MPs that they do not want to prolong Albin Kurti’s time in power.

Abdixhiku criticizes six MPs

In a response, Abdixhiku wrote that no governing agreement with VV had been rejected the previous day because no such agreement had ever existed. He recalled that the LDK had decided to remain in opposition and that all its MPs had approved that position. “What are they beating their chests about? What exactly have they saved?” Abdixhiku asked, adding that what had actually been rejected was a resolution to the issue of Kosovo’s president and a vote for the candidate proposed by the LDK itself. According to him, this rejection sealed the country’s fate: new elections.

The two other Albanian parties, the Democratic Party of Kosovo and the Alliance, have refused to take part in talks on the president, saying they prefer to remain in opposition.

Analyst Blerim Burjani, assessing the instability of the VV-LDK agreement on the head of state, said that if an agreement only temporarily avoids a deadlock but creates an unequal political relationship, it may be a technical solution, but not a democratic one. According to Burjani, the problem lies in how parties treat the state as their property for resolving political crises, which weakens the autonomy of institutions and undermines citizens’ trust. He stressed that Kosovo does not need quasi-solutions, but a political agreement that respects the Constitution, institutions and the will of the people; otherwise, the crisis is not resolved but merely postponed until another day.

Only 74 votes secured

At this point, of the 120 seats in the Kosovo Parliament, only 74 votes have been secured for Bekim Sejdiu’s election as president. At least 80 votes are required, indicating that the current number is not enough to avert new snap elections. The agreement reached three days ago between Vetëvendosje and the LDK on the president appeared to have cleared the way for the Assembly to be constituted and the government to be formed, but the outlook now remains uncertain.

It is not yet known when the session to constitute Parliament will be called, after which a new government could be elected and an attempt made to elect the president. Only 61 votes are needed to elect the head of state, but the presence of at least 80 MPs in the chamber is a necessary condition for the process to be considered legitimate.

This is the second time this year and the third time in less than two years that Kosovo has attempted to establish stable institutions following parliamentary elections. The snap elections of June 8 were held precisely because the Assembly was dissolved after failing to elect a new president. This election cycle could be repeated if Kosovo’s new president is not elected within 60 days of the Assembly being constituted.