After the parliamentary elections in Kosovo, the formation of new institutions is being accompanied by tough negotiations, political conditions, and demands from the main parties in the Assembly. As there is still no agreement on a governing majority, each political entity is seeking to increase its weight in the negotiation process.
Recently, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) has indicated that it could support a possible agreement with the Vetëvendosje Movement (LVV), making available the 18 votes of its deputies. However, according to positions expressed by its officials, this support would come with conditions.
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The main condition mentioned by the LDK is that the post of President of Kosovo should belong to this party and that the candidate for this office should come from its ranks. This element is being considered important in talks between the two parties and could directly affect whether or not an agreement on forming the institutions will be reached.
On this issue, diaspora activist Agim Aliçkaj spoke in a statement to “Bota sot”.
According to him, the election result gave Albin Kurti the political right to continue governing, while the opposition, as he assesses it, has still not accepted the defeat.
Aliçkaj draws attention to the fact that the process of electing the president could be used by the opposition as a means to hinder the functioning of institutions and the completion of power.
“The unnecessary parliamentary elections in Kosovo ended very successfully and these days the certification of the results is expected. The majority of the people of Kosovo, for the third time in a row, clearly expressed their will for Prime Minister Albin Kurti, with his coalition, to continue governing the country for another four years.
It is still not clear whether PDK, LDK and AAK have truly understood that they lost the elections. Many opposition politicians, together with the media controlled by them, continue to interpret the numbers as they wish, deceiving themselves that they are winners, simply because they lost by the same margin or less than last time. This is naivety of painful proportions, in short, political misery.
Since the election result enables Mr. Kurti to constitute the Assembly and form the Government, the post of President, for whose election 81 votes are required, or in the third round a simple majority provided that 81 deputies are present, remains a possibility for the losing parties to block the functioning of the state.
All indications show that the losers will again try to block the state, solely to prevent Mr. Kurti from governing the country. Even before the elections have been certified, they have begun setting conditions and seeking justifications for their actions against the normal functioning of state institutions,” he said.
Speaking further, he assesses that the conditions set by the LDK for supporting the election of the president are unworkable, driven by party interests, and have the potential to obstruct the normal functioning of institutions.
“The Democratic League of Kosovo declares that it will give its votes only on the condition that the President be from its ranks, although it itself is more divided than rarely before and it is not known whether it will manage to convince its own deputies to vote unanimously in the event of an agreement with Vetëvendosje. The maximum that the LDK can expect is several ministries, depending on its parliamentary weight.
LDK Presidency member and former prime minister Avdullah Hoti, driven by his ‘great love’ for America, has revealed another condition for voting for the President: signing the contract for American gas. He goes so far as to warn of protests if the government does not do this, an entirely naive, unprofessional and somewhat laughable display.
Both of these conditions are unrealistic and unworkable. They have been set for personal and party interests, not to unblock state institutions. It is clear that the LDK, but also the PDK and AAK, have ‘forgotten’ their earlier statements that the President should be a unifying and non-partisan figure. Meanwhile, the gas issue is not a political issue, but an economic and strategic one, which should be assessed by experts in the energy field,” the activist explains.
In conclusion, Aliçkaj says that the opposition is using political conditions and unsupported claims to obstruct the institutions, while as a way out he sees the election of a non-partisan president who serves the state interest above the party interest.
“The efforts of these parties to frighten the people with claims of an ‘authoritarian government’ by Kurti are unfounded. Their hypocrisy becomes even more evident when they support the real autocrat, the Serbian vassal and now illegitimate prime minister of Albania, Edi Rama. He, together with Serbian lobbyist Richard Grenell, is believed to have also had an influence in encouraging these efforts to block the state, with the aim of bringing down Mr. Kurti’s government.
It is astonishing that these parties, and especially the LDK, have learned nothing from successive defeats. Instead of analyzing their own mistakes, changing and improving, they waste energy seeking culprits where none exist. How do they not understand that blocking the winner and the state cannot bring them victory? If they continue with this approach, they will never win the trust of the majority of citizens.
The only real solution for the election of the President is the proposal of three capable, non-partisan candidates, with knowledge of foreign languages and international relations, and the election of one of them by majority vote. This requires maturity, wisdom and patriotism. Quite simply, it requires that state and national interests be placed above personal and party interests,” activist Aliçkaj concluded for “Bota sot”.
