Disputes over deputy speakers linked to presidential election, Kurti seeks dialogue with opposition

The constitutive session of the Kosovo Assembly continued today with the election of Albulena Haxhiu as speaker of the Assembly. Following the vote, lawmakers began the procedure for selecting five deputy speakers.

Ardian Gola from LVV, Vlora Çitaku from PDK, Kujtim Shala from LDK, Sllavko Simiq from the Serb List and Emilia Rexhepi on behalf of the non-Serb communities have been nominated for these positions.

The process was accompanied by clashes among lawmakers over the voting procedure. PDK and LDK accused LVV of obstructing the completion of the Assembly’s constitution.

LVV lawmaker Arbërie Nagavci said that PDK and LDK were seeking support for their candidates for deputy speakers while at the same time making it clear that they would not vote for the candidate for president.

After the session was suspended, LVV leader Albin Kurti invited PDK leader Bedri Hamza and LDK leader Lumir Abdixhiku to a meeting. According to Kurti, the meeting should discuss reaching an agreement on the selection of the deputy speakers.

Kurti stressed that the process also requires the support of lawmakers from other parties, making an agreement among the political entities necessary.

“I am in contact with the LDK leader, and I have also written to the PDK leader so that we can meet. This way, we can also reach an agreement on the selection of the deputy speakers, since their nominations require the support of the majority,” Kurti said.

Gacaferi: PDK, AAK and part of LDK seek new elections

Luan Gacaferi, a member of Guxo, told Bota sot that Albin Kurti had been calling on opposition parties to sit down for talks for a long time. According to him, so far only LDK leader Lumir Abdixhiku has responded positively to the invitation.

Gacaferi claimed that PDK, AAK and part of LDK were interested in the country going to extraordinary elections again.

“Kurti has invited them to talks for a long time, but, as is known, only the LDK leader has responded to the invitation. Meanwhile, the PDK leader rejected it with banal excuses,” he said.

According to Gacaferi, the position of these entities shows that they want to return the country to elections, while every effort by Kurti to avoid this scenario could prove unsuccessful.

He added that the opposition had turned the repetition of elections into a strategy, even if this happened 100 times, with the aim of exhausting the electorate and then defeating Kurti.

Ramabaja: Election of the Assembly Presidency is a test of political compromise

Commentator Sadri Ramabaja described Albin Kurti’s invitation to Bedri Hamza and Lumir Abdixhiku as a positive political development, although not yet as evidence that the parties had reached a compromise.

According to him, this move shows that Kurti has understood that the institutional blockade cannot be overcome solely through the division between the governing side and the opposition. He believes that a minimum level of cooperation among the three main political forces is necessary.

Ramabaja stressed that the election of the deputy speakers depends not only on the will of political leaders. He referred to Article 12 of the Rules of Procedure, which stipulates that deputy speakers are elected by a majority of the votes of all lawmakers and that the three largest parliamentary entities have the right to nominate one candidate each.

“The Rules of Procedure have conceived the Assembly Presidency as a mechanism for plural political representation, not as a structure that can be controlled by a single entity,” he said.

According to Ramabaja, a compromise among the parties on the composition of the Assembly Presidency is essential, but any agreement must respect the Constitution and the Assembly’s Rules of Procedure. He underscored that the matter should not be viewed as a favor that LVV is doing for PDK or LDK, or vice versa, but as a necessity for the functioning of a constitutional institution.

He recalled that the Assembly Presidency consists of the speaker and five deputy speakers, who represent the three largest parliamentary groups and the non-majority communities.

Ramabaja said that, following the failed vote, political dialogue remains the only way to unblock the situation. According to him, PDK and LDK should consider revising their nominations, while LVV should understand that securing a numerical majority does not replace respect for plural representation in the Assembly Presidency.

He said that the right to nominate candidates cannot be equated with the right to keep the Assembly indefinitely out of operation. At the same time, he added that LVV cannot ask the opposition to vote for an imposed solution without respecting the procedural rights of the other entities.

According to him, political responsibility should be assessed based on the concrete actions of each side: if Kurti offers a genuine compromise that is in line with the Rules of Procedure, while the opposition rejects every solution solely to keep the Assembly blocked, then part of the responsibility falls on the opposition. If, on the other hand, LVV seeks to impose a solution without respecting the rights of the other parties, responsibility cannot be attributed solely to the opposition.

Ramabaja said that the main question is whether political actors are using the institution to resolve the crisis or exploiting the crisis to block the institution.

He warned that a prolonged parliamentary deadlock would harm the functioning of the state, hinder legislative and oversight work, and create the perception of a political system incapable of reaching agreements. According to him, the consequences would also be felt in Kosovo’s international standing.

Ramabaja called on PDK and LDK to accept the invitation to dialogue and seek a solution based on the Assembly’s Rules of Procedure. He warned that if the parties fail to reach an agreement, Kosovo risks entering a phase in which parliamentary deadlock becomes the political norm.

“In a parliamentary democracy, compromise does not mean that one side surrenders. It means accepting that the institution is more important than the parties’ immediate interests. This is the test facing LVV, PDK and LDK today,” Ramabaja concluded in comments to Bota sot.