Deadline for president draws near, Lis Bukuroca warns of a new institutional crisis

Parliamentary parties in Kosovo have still not found a candidate for president who could secure the necessary votes in the Assembly, while the time available is running out.

According to the Constitutional Court’s determination, the 60-day period for electing the president began on August 8 and ends on October 6, 2026.

Although recent days have seen meetings and new political developments, no specific name has been announced so far. The issue of the president was also discussed at a meeting between PDK leader Bedri Hamza and Prime Minister Albin Kurti, but no agreement was reached on a candidate.

The lack of an agreement within the constitutional deadline has revived fears of another institutional crisis and the possibility of holding new parliamentary elections.

Publicist Lis Bukuroca says there are currently no convincing indications that the situation will be resolved soon. According to him, the parties continue to maintain unchanged positions and are showing no willingness to reach an institutional compromise.

In a statement to “Bota sot,” Bukuroca said that the position of the opposition parties could be linked to deeper political interests, including fears of the consequences that the issue of unexplained wealth could bring.

“I see no convincing sign that the crisis over the election of the President of the Republic can be resolved soon. On the contrary, the political parties remain firmly entrenched in their positions and are not demonstrating a willingness for a genuine institutional agreement,” he said.

Bukuroca assessed that the rigidity of the opposition parties cannot be explained solely by the usual political rivalries. According to him, major interests and concerns over changes that could affect benefits accumulated over the years may lie behind it, while the possibility of confiscating unexplained wealth could be one of the main factors.

He also described the situation within the LDK as problematic, saying that divisions within the party make it more difficult to secure a stable majority for the election of the president.

“The LDK does not appear today to be a fully coherent entity. Internal divisions have become visible precisely in relation to the agreement on the president, making the creation of a stable majority even more difficult,” the publicist said.

Regarding the PDK, Bukuroca identified another political difficulty linked to the party’s identity and developments concerning former Kosovo Liberation Army leaders in The Hague.

According to him, Bedri Hamza leads a political force that continues to link its identity to the legacy of the Kosovo Liberation Army, while he himself does not have the biography of a former KLA member. According to Bukuroca, this places Hamza under significant internal pressure and limits his ability to compromise. He added that following the latest verdict in The Hague, this connection has become even more prominent in the PDK’s political discourse.

The publicist said that the issue of former Kosovo Liberation Army leaders in The Hague is becoming increasingly intertwined with internal political disputes in Kosovo. However, he warned that the judicial proceedings and the responsibility of Kosovo’s institutions must be treated as separate issues.

“Kosovo’s institutions can defend the country’s interests and call for the rights of the accused to be respected, but they cannot act as though a court’s decisions can be overturned through political will. Blending these two issues is dangerous,” Bukuroca said.

He recalled that the Kosovo Specialist Chambers were established on the basis of Kosovo’s legislation and have strong international support. For this reason, he said, any political attempt to oppose them should also take into account the consequences it could have for Kosovo’s relations with its international partners.

Bukuroca said that, under the current circumstances, he still sees insufficient willingness among the main political forces to reach an agreement on the president.

“The issue is not only the name of the next president. The main problem is that the parties are using the functioning of the state as part of their political strategy. When institutions become tools of inter-party pressure, the consequences are not faced by just one entity, but by all of Kosovo,” Lis Bukuroca concluded to “Bota sot.”