Failure of presidential deal sends Kosovo toward new elections

Following opposition from six deputies of the Democratic League of Kosovo to the agreement with the Vetëvendosje Movement over the candidacy of Bekim Sejdiu for president, new elections are increasingly being seen as unavoidable. Political analysts assess that it will be difficult for deputies from the Democratic Party of Kosovo or the Alliance to support Sejdiu’s candidacy, given the parties’ current positions.

Political analyst Blerim Canaj told KosovaPress that the main obstacle for the LDK is its inability to reach agreement within its own ranks. According to him, internal divisions and the position of its chairman, Lumir Abdixhiku, have made the situation even more difficult.

“The LDK has a problem achieving consensus within its own party, let alone reaching consensus with other parties. This says a great deal about the LDK, its fractures and divisions, as well as the position of its chairman, Lumir Abdixhiku. Naturally, a chairman who cannot unite his deputies and secure his party’s vote on matters this important says a lot about the LDK… I think the desire of these people, whom citizens have entrusted with the responsibility of building the institutions, is for us to go to elections, but on their preferred timetable… I do not know whether elections are a solution, since, based on what we have seen so far, they may take us to elections only to send us back to elections again,” Canaj said.

Another political analyst, Selatin Retkoceri, said that the failure of the agreement between the LVV and the LDK could directly affect the result that Lumir Abdixhiku’s party will achieve in the next elections.

Retkoceri assesses that Abdixhiku assumed responsibility for yet another electoral process when he reached the agreement with the LVV without first securing the votes of his deputies. According to him, this situation could further weaken the LDK and even call into question its position as the third-largest party.

“Despite being the third-largest party, he (Lumir Abdixhiku) took on the burden of responsibility for leading the country into yet another new electoral cycle. This will harm the Democratic League of Kosovo the most. I am sorry that this party will now fight not for second place, but for third place, as that position will be threatened by the Alliance,” he stressed.

Canaj does not expect a new agreement on the election of the president to be reached easily under the current political circumstances.

However, he believes a solution could be found if the LVV accepts the Alliance’s demands, including the issue of American gas.

“The efforts throughout have not been aimed at finding a solution, because the solution has been on the table from the beginning. The entire effort has been about making the other side appear responsible for what had been planned earlier: going to elections. If there had been a desire for a solution, the first thing the LVV would have done would have been to sit down seriously with the PDK and discuss concrete issues, since it has not had a problem with votes there. Second, it would have seriously considered the Alliance’s six points, because ultimately they are not points that serve the Alliance’s interests exclusively. They are points that serve the interests of citizens and the country,” he emphasized.

The LVV and the LDK reached the agreement on 31 August, when they decided that Bekim Sejdiu would be nominated for president of Kosovo. Together with deputies from the non-Serb minorities, the two parties have a total of 80 votes, the number required to elect the president.

However, during a meeting of the LDK Parliamentary Group on 1 September, it became known that six deputies from the party would not support Sejdiu’s election as head of state.

Meanwhile, Kosovo’s Assembly remains unconstituted. In the two attempts made so far, it has not been possible to elect the speaker of the Assembly and complete the constitution of the 11th Legislature.

The constitutive session remains the main point of confrontation between the parliamentary parties, while the lack of new institutions is prolonging the political crisis. Caretaker Prime Minister Albin Kurti has requested time to reach a political agreement that would pave the way for the constitution of the Assembly and the formation of new institutions. On the other hand, the Democratic Party of Kosovo and the Alliance continue their political efforts to demand that the constitutive session be held after the 7 June elections.