Meetings on the establishment of Kosovo’s new institutions, emerging from the snap parliamentary elections of June 7, began today among political leaders.
At the Assembly building, Kosovo’s acting prime minister and at the same time leader of the Vetëvendosje Movement, Albin Kurti, first held a meeting with the chairman of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, Bedri Hamza.
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Later, at 18:00, a meeting with LDK leader Lumir Abdixhiku is also scheduled.
As he entered the Assembly together with acting Finance Minister Hekuran Murati, Kurti said: “We expect the meeting to be constructive and to establish the institutions of the eleventh legislature.”
Hamza, meanwhile, told reporters that he expects the meeting to conclude successfully so that the country has “institutions, institutional stability and progress”.
These meetings are being held two days after the result of the June snap parliamentary elections was certified, elections that were called after parties failed months earlier to reach agreement on the country’s new president.
Kurti had also invited Alliance leader Ardian Gjini to the meeting, but the latter rejected the invitation, arguing that his party has already presented six conditions that Kurti would have to meet in exchange for support for the creation of the institutions.
Political analyst Ilir Deda described these meetings as positive, but underlined that the last moment has arrived “for political leaders, with one or two meetings at most,” to “give an answer on the creation of institutions”.
In a statement to Radio Free Europe, Deda said that holding new elections would be very harmful for the country. According to him, “Kurti, Hamza and Abdixhiku have an extraordinary responsibility to reach an understanding together and give Kosovo a functional Government, a president and political stability in the next four years.”
According to the final result of the June 7 elections, Kurti’s LVV won 53 mandates, the PDK 22 seats, the LDK 18 and the Alliance seven.
After the certification of the results, deputies of the new legislature must constitute the Assembly, form the Government and elect the president.
To constitute the Assembly and form the Government, 61 votes are needed in the 120-seat Assembly. Kurti’s party has the votes for the first two processes, as it is also backed by the votes of non-Serb minority parties, which have ten mandates.
However, there is still no agreement or consensus on the name of the president.
For the vote for president to be valid in the first two rounds, the presence of two-thirds of lawmakers in the Assembly is required.
If a political agreement is missing, this remains impossible for each parliamentary party.
The Constitution stipulates that the president must be elected within 60 days from the day the Assembly is constituted.
If this does not happen, the Assembly is dissolved and the country goes to new elections. If the country goes to elections again, then they would be the fourth parliamentary elections since February 2025.
Parties’ positions
A few days ago, LVV official Arbërie Nagavci told Radio Free Europe that her party has the votes needed to create the new Government and that for the election of the president it will seek consensus with the other parties.
According to this party, the president should be a consensual and non-partisan figure. Months earlier, LVV had proposed two names from civil society for the post, Feride Rushiti and Hatixhe Hoxha, but failed to reach agreement with opposition parties and these candidacies did not secure the necessary votes.
PDK, LDK and the Alliance, the three opposition parties, have presented several conditions for possible cooperation with Kurti’s party.
Hamza has said that before discussing possible governing cooperation, a series of issues should be addressed with LVV, such as wages and pensions, energy capacities, American gas and Kosovo’s membership in the European Union.
For the LDK, according to Abdixhiku, Kosovo’s strategic orientation, including American gas, remains a “precondition of political existence”.
As for the Alliance, among its six conditions are Kosovo’s acceptance of the American gas project, the construction of a coal-fired power plant and several other economy-related demands.
Political affairs expert Ilir Deda told Radio Free Europe that all the opposition parties’ demands are in Kosovo’s interest and, according to him, are aimed at increasing citizens’ well-being as well as deepening “Kosovo’s partnership with the United States”.
Business chambers: Rejecting gas endangers Kosovo’s partnership with the US
Kurti’s acting government is facing calls from the US Embassy, opposition parties and business chambers to join regional initiatives for the liquefied natural gas (LNG) network, backed by the United States.
Two days ago, the chargé d’affaires at the US Embassy in Prishtina, Anu Prattipati, reiterated the request that Kosovo be supplied with American LNG “to secure American investments in the future”.
Despite this, so far Kosovo’s executive has given no signals that it is ready to become part of these initiatives, while acting Economy Minister Artane Rizvanolli and Kurti have mentioned the idea of gasifying domestic coal.
