Kosovo Faces Presidential Challenge: Political Agreement or Return to Elections?

The constitutive session of the new legislature of the Assembly of Kosovo, which emerged from the June 7 elections, is expected to be held in the first days of August. This was announced by Kosovo’s acting president, Albulena Haxhiu.

The constitution of the Assembly will also mark the start of the 60-day constitutional deadline for electing a new president, placing the country at the threshold of a decisive political period.

Haxhiu told reporters that scheduling the session for early August is intended to give the parties time to hold talks and reach an agreement on the president. The lack of consensus on this issue several months ago was one of the factors that led Kosovo to early parliamentary elections.

According to her, the constitutional deadline expires on August 7, while the constitutive session will be held at the beginning of that month. Haxhiu promised that the exact date and time of the meeting would be announced during the following week.

It remains unclear whether the political parties will be able to overcome their disagreements and secure the compromise needed to make the new institutions operational. With no concrete signs that their positions are moving closer together, the country could once again face institutional deadlock and prolonged political uncertainty.

At the center of developments is the question of whether the available time will be enough for the parties to reach an agreement or whether Kosovo will enter another institutional crisis, which would affect the work of the Assembly, the election of the president and important state processes.

Bukuroca: A President Is a Necessity for the State, Not Only for Vetëvendosje

Speaking to “Bota sot,” commentator Lis Bukuroca said there was little chance of a compromise being reached before the parliamentary session. According to him, this is linked to a lack of responsibility, particularly on the part of the PDK and then the LDK.

Bukuroca supported this position by pointing to what he said were the differences between the political approaches of the PDK and LDK and that of the LVV.

He said hopes for a lasting solution were slim because a sense of responsibility toward the rule of law was lacking, particularly within the PDK and, after it, the LDK.

According to the commentator, these two parties represent a different philosophy of state organization. He claimed that during their time in government, institutions were turned into mechanisms serving party interests, while issues such as enrichment, employment and processes related to the rule of law, from the courts to the prosecution service, were treated more as formalities than as the foundations of governance.

In Bukuroca’s assessment, Vetëvendosje stands in opposition to this way of operating. He said its political philosophy is based on building a state governed by the rule of law, whose institutions serve citizens rather than political parties.

Bukuroca also argued that the formal leaders of the PDK and LDK are not the main decision-makers but act under the influence of the people who placed them in those positions.

Considering the possibility of an LVV coalition with either the PDK or LDK, he warned of the consequences that each scenario could bring.

According to him, reaching a compromise with parties that support a model of governance different from Vetëvendosje’s is extremely difficult. In this context, he reiterated that the official leaders of these parties are not seen as the real decision-making authorities, but as figures influenced by the leaders who brought them to the helm.

Bukuroca said an agreement between the PDK and Vetëvendosje would force one side to retreat from its fundamental principles. According to him, either the PDK would have to fully accept a rule-of-law model that does not align with its approach to date, or Vetëvendosje would have to abandon its political program and accept a form of governance that it has consistently opposed.

He added that any such compromise would carry political costs for everyone. The PDK would be required to break with past practices, the LDK would have to confront its political legacy, while Vetëvendosje, if it made fundamental concessions, would risk contradicting its own identity and program.

The commentator warned that a failure to reach an agreement could lead the country into a new institutional deadlock, with serious consequences.

He stressed that the state needs a president, not just Vetëvendosje. However, according to him, if opposition leaders feel compelled to follow the will of the real leaders or oligarchs, they will blackmail Vetëvendosje and once again sabotage the state.

If no compromise is reached, Bukuroca predicted a prolonged institutional crisis that would, among other things, harm the regular functioning of the Assembly, the passage of laws and citizens’ trust in institutions.

At the end of his comments to “Bota sot,” Lis Bukuroca said that if this scenario materializes, the main losers would not be only the parties, but also the state of Kosovo.

Mehmeti: The Parties Have Not Found Common Ground, So the Deadlock Is Unlikely to Be Overcome

Political analyst Faton Mehmeti also expressed doubts that the political parties would be able to reach an agreement before the session at which the Assembly is expected to be constituted.

According to him, the internal situation within the LDK makes the possibility of any positive development toward a potential agreement even more difficult.

Mehmeti said that despite the announcement by the speaker of the Assembly, he did not believe the political deadlock would be overcome because the parties had still not managed to find common ground. He added that the internal crisis into which the LDK has fallen makes compromise even more difficult and that, for this reason, he expects the parties to attend the session without a prior agreement.

The analyst noted that the LVV has the votes needed to form the government and constitute the Assembly, but not to elect the president. Consequently, the lack of a prior agreement could make it impossible to elect the head of state and send Kosovo back to elections.

According to Mehmeti, the LVV’s coalition with the parties alongside which it contested the elections has the numbers needed to elect the government and constitute the Assembly. However, he expects disagreements to resurface when the time comes to elect the president, creating the risk of a new electoral process.

Concluding his statement to “Bota sot,” Faton Mehmeti warned that the government could fall again. If the country is once more left with a caretaker government, he said, the consequences would be much longer-lasting because of the lack of investment, as a caretaker executive has limited powers.