The constitution of the Kosovo Assembly failed twice this week. The reason was procedural disagreements between the political parties that secured seats in parliament after the February 9 elections.
Ambassadors of QUINT countries have expressed criticism for the failure to constitute the Kosovo Assembly and at the same time have called on political parties to cooperate in overcoming the obstacles to the formation of institutions. The call came after the failure of the second attempt to constitute the Kosovo Assembly on Thursday (17.04.), after the oldest speaker of the Assembly did not put to a vote in the session of 17 April the report on the verification of the mandates of the deputies, a report that failed to be approved in the first session two days ago.
Rohde: Cooperation urgently needed
Germany's Ambassador to Kosovo, Jörn Rohde, said that the constitution of the Kosovo Assembly has stalled, "due to obstructionist tactics." "Citizens deserve politicians who put Kosovo before party politics. Therefore, I repeat: Genuine cooperation is urgently needed to guarantee functional institutions and the rapid formation of a stable government," Rohde wrote on the Bluesky social network.
The British ambassador to Pristina, Jonathan Hargreaves, also said that "Kosovo urgently needs the formation of new institutions, as more than two months have passed since the elections were held." "People have the right to expect their political leaders to work together in the interest of the country," wrote the British ambassador to Pristina, Hargreaves, on his social profile.
Opposition criticism of the government
Opposition political parties so far say that Albin Kurti's Vetëvendosje Movement is deliberately dragging out the progress of the constitutive session for the purpose of political bargaining. The Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) insist that the members of the government, who have been elected as deputies, resign, otherwise they will not vote on the report on the verification of the deputies' mandates. This report is a procedure that must be passed in order to continue with the constitution of the Assembly and the formation of the new Government.
The leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Memli Krasniqi, who came second in the elections, said that the Vetëvendosje Movement, who came first in the elections, "is deliberately dragging out the progress of the constitutive session." "The PDK is trying to buy time to make the necessary numbers for the formation of institutions. They do not have a parliamentary majority, and since they do not, they want to buy time, to make deals," Krasniqi said.
The leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Lumir Abdixhiku, said that "the chairman of the constitutive session of the Assembly, Avni Dehari, interrupted the session without right and against the Rules of the Assembly". "Citizens have very clear who the real blockers are. The chairman, who happens to be the oldest, happens to be from the leading party, acted against the Rules of the Assembly, against constitutional practice, without right he interrupted today's session, even though there was a sufficient quorum, even though there were conditions for voting. This blocking practice for the highest institution is regrettable. This is a serious violation, a serious practice, it is bad political behavior", said Abdixhiku.
The Vetevendosje Movement promises readiness to resolve the situation
Meanwhile, representatives of the Vetëvendosje Movement say they want to find a solution to the situation created in the Assembly after the non-approval of the mandate report. They refer to the statement of the President of Kosovo, who has asked the deputies to find a solution. "We want to correct the wrong decision of the Assembly, but we need to see what the way to correct that decision is," said Albulena Haxhiu from Vetëvendosje. She emphasizes that Vetëvendosje is willing to propose ways to move forward. "So, will it be a new commission or the previous commission to prepare the new report, there may be other proposals and continue," said Haxhiu.
Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani two days ago urged MPs, citing articles of the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, that the constitutive session should continue no later than 48 hours from its interruption. "The functionalization of institutions that emerged from the will of citizens is a constitutional obligation of every institution and every person vested with public authority," said President Osmani, expressing her willingness to welcome representatives of political parties to her office, as she says, "to discuss the way forward, if such a thing is deemed necessary."
There is still uncertainty.
How to proceed has not yet been clarified. Even in the second constitutive session, the deputies, after approving the report, were supposed to take the oath and elect the speaker and deputy speakers, who are elected with at least 61 votes out of the 120 seats in the Kosovo Assembly. Then, in a subsequent session, the Kosovo government was expected to be elected. Albin Kurti's Vetëvendosje Movement, which emerged as the winning party in the elections, must also secure at least 61 votes to receive a third term at the head of the executive.
The Vetevendosje Movement currently has 48 seats in the Assembly. The party has not yet announced the name of its nominee for the post of speaker of parliament, nor has it officially announced whether it has managed to secure the necessary votes for his election and the government led by Albin Kurti. The Vetevendosje Movement had previously stated that it preferred to create new institutions with non-Serb communities, but in recent days it has admitted that it also needs cooperation with the Albanian parties that have won seats in the Assembly, in order to form a government. The three largest opposition parties have so far stated that they do not want to enter into a coalition with the Vetevendosje Movement of the incumbent Prime Minister, Albin Kurti./ DW (A2 Televizion)
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