No Agreement After Three Hours of Talks, Kasolli Examines Abdixhiku’s Position on the Motion: He Made Things Easier for LVV

Acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti and LDK leader Lumir Abdixhiku held a meeting on Tuesday as part of efforts to establish the new institutions.

This was their second face-to-face meeting following the certification of the June 7 election results. The talks lasted approximately three hours but ended without an agreement.

At the end of the meeting, Kurti said the discussion with Lumir Abdixhiku, leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), had been constructive, although it did not produce any political agreement.

According to Kurti, the meeting addressed a large number of issues related to political developments, the institutional situation and future challenges. He said the parties share many concerns, as well as considerable willingness and readiness to cooperate in the future.

The acting prime minister said communication between political parties should be standard practice and should aim to find solutions, regardless of the differences between them.

Kurti, however, made it clear that no agreement with the LDK has yet been reached.

He said the news would have been the reaching of an agreement, but no such political agreement exists. Kurti said various approaches and the available options had been considered, adding that a political agreement is needed that respects the election result and translates it into institutional stability.

Abdixhiku, meanwhile, said the constitution of the Assembly should proceed if the parties fail to reach an agreement by August 6.

The LDK leader said Kurti had been informed that, in the absence of an agreement by August 6, the process of constituting the Assembly should continue. He stressed that the LDK is not seeking the post of Assembly speaker, as it considers it a ceremonial position that, under the Constitution, should be filled by the nominee of the leading party. According to him, there is additional time for the other issues, while resolving them as quickly as possible would be more favorable.

Abdixhiku described the meeting with Kurti as good and announced that the LDK is ready to continue discussions in the coming days.

He emphasized that his party entered the talks in good faith, taking the election result into account and with the aim of preventing the country from going to elections again.

The meeting between Kurti and Abdixhiku was held after the LDK leader had temporarily suspended the discussions. They resumed after Abdixhiku survived the motion and remained party leader.

Analyst Afrim Kasolli believes Abdixhiku survived the motion by relying on the claim that he would make every possible effort to prevent a new institutional deadlock.

According to Kasolli, during that period Abdixhiku accused the rebel group within the LDK of pursuing an initiative that had been “incited from outside,” while directing no criticism at the Vetëvendosje Movement.

In comments to “Bota sot,” Kasolli said Lumir Abdixhiku managed to remain at the helm of the LDK on the basis of the claim that he was working with the utmost dedication to avert a new institutional deadlock and, potentially, new snap elections. According to him, the structures of this political party, weary of being in opposition, were even offered the opportunity to be catapulted into power. The analyst added that when negotiations with the Vetëvendosje Movement were suspended because of opposition to Abdixhiku’s leadership, the latter blamed the LDK’s rebel wing for deepening the crisis through an initiative “incited from outside.” Kasolli stressed that throughout this period, Abdixhiku made no similar criticism of the Vetëvendosje Movement.

According to the analyst, the situation changed completely after three hours of negotiations.

Kasolli noted that the Vetëvendosje Movement had also reinforced the narrative that simply reconfirming Lumir Abdixhiku as LDK leader would be enough for everything to proceed smoothly.

He said that yesterday, unexpectedly, everything was turned upside down. After three hours of talks, the two leaders said discussions would continue even after the Assembly was constituted and, if possible, after the government was voted in. According to Kasolli, the LDK led by Abdixhiku has now agreed to act entirely in line with the Vetëvendosje Movement’s scenario: constituting the Assembly and forming the new government are the responsibility of the party that won the election, while electing the new president remains a burden for all the other political parties. The analyst added that if no political agreement is reached on this issue, new snap elections will be inevitable.

In conclusion, Kasolli said the LDK’s attempt to absolve itself of responsibility is making it easier for the winning party to find “perennial scapegoats.”

He concluded that, by trying to prove it bears no responsibility for this possible scenario, the LDK has not only embraced the government’s narrative even more fully but has also made it easier for the latter to seek out “perennial scapegoats.”