Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani will host meetings with the leaders of political parties over the next two days in an effort to resolve the ongoing political deadlock. Political parties have already confirmed their attendance. Unlike previous attempts, the format of these meetings will be “individual,”.
This will be President Osmani’s second set of meetings with political leaders regarding the parliamentary stalemate.
Memli Krasniqi, chairman of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), was the first to confirm receiving an invitation from President Osmani for a meeting on Wednesday. Krasniqi welcomed Osmani’s engagement as positive but expressed skepticism about the meeting’s outcome.
Party Stances and Blame Game
“Our stance is the one we’ve always had. For two or three months, we’ve been trying to find solutions, to offer compromises to get out of this situation. Tomorrow, I will be with the President again. I see this as positive in terms of engagement, but I don’t know what to say about the possibility of a result. Because the deadlock is a product of VV’s political stubbornness,” Krasniqi stated.
The Vetëvendosje Movement (VV), the leading party, also confirmed its readiness to attend the meeting. MP Albulena Haxhiu did not rule out the possibility that VV leader Albin Kurti might also invite political leaders to another meeting.
“We are ready to participate in the next meetings invited by President Osmani. We never rule out the possibility of meetings also being invited by Chairman Kurti… It’s meaningless to go to a meeting and make no move. As long as we have made moves, Chairman Albin Kurti mentioned them after the meeting he called,” Haxhiu said.
PDK, LDK, and AAK have also confirmed their participation in tomorrow’s meeting.
Constitutional Ruling and Continued Stalemate
Political parties have failed to agree on constituting the Assembly even after the Constitutional Court’s ruling last Thursday, which mandated that the constitutive session of the ninth legislature of the Kosovo Assembly must conclude within 30 days. Parties have offered differing interpretations of this decision. A meeting held by VV leader Albin Kurti on Saturday with other party leaders also failed to produce any concrete results.
Despite proposals, that meeting ended without any specific agreement. Representatives from PDK, LDK, and AAK emerged from the meeting with criticisms directed at Kurti and Vetëvendosje, calling the meeting a “farce” and lacking any real will for compromise.
Conversely, Kurti stated that VV, as the winner of the February 9 elections, had offered two compromise options, but these were rejected by the former opposition. He emphasized that his party bears responsibility for forming the government, but the formation of the Assembly is a shared responsibility, according to the Constitutional Court’s judgment.
The “compromise proposals,” as Kurti termed them, involved a secret ballot and a package vote for the speaker and deputy speakers. Kurti accused PDK and LDK of misinterpreting the Constitutional Court’s ruling.
Kosovo is now entering its fifth month since the parliamentary elections and its third month since the first session for the Assembly’s constitution was held. Since April 15, the constitutive session has failed through 40 continuations.
