Kosovo’s constitutional deadline to elect the President of the Republic expires tonight, while political parties have yet to reach an agreement on a candidate who could secure the necessary votes in the Assembly.
The 60-day deadline, set following a decision by the Constitutional Court, began on August 8 and expires on October 6. By the time the deadline expires, the Assembly must complete the procedure for electing the head of state.
If this does not happen, the Assembly will be automatically dissolved and Kosovo will head toward new snap elections. Under the constitutional deadlines, the elections would have to be held no later than 45 days after the dissolution of the Assembly, meaning by November 15.
Despite meetings and discussions held over the past several weeks, however, political parties have still failed to reach an agreement on the president.
The 60-day period began following a decision by the Constitutional Court, which, after reviewing requests submitted by PDK lawmakers, determined that the Assembly had not been constituted within the constitutional deadline. According to the ruling, the deadline for constituting the Assembly expired on August 8, and the period for electing the president began to run from that date.
Following the June 7 elections, the constitutive session of the Assembly was opened on August 6, but the process was interrupted twice. Vetëvendosje, led by Albin Kurti, did not nominate a candidate for Speaker of the Assembly, insisting that an agreement on the election of the president had to be reached first.
On August 8, when the deadline for constituting the Assembly expired, the session was again interrupted by presiding officer Avni Dehari.
The Assembly was finally constituted on September 13, leaving the 60-day deadline for electing the president in effect.
During this period, there were also attempts to reach a political agreement. Following meetings between party leaders, Albin Kurti and LDK leader Lumir Abdixhiku announced that they had reached an agreement on the candidacy of Bekim Sejdiu for president.
However, the agreement did not receive the support of six LDK lawmakers, and Sejdiu subsequently withdrew from the race.
Further meetings between party leaders also failed to produce a final solution.
Meanwhile, PDK chairman Bedri Hamza has called for the process of amending the Specialist Chambers Law to first be completed in both readings, after which the parties should sit down to find a consensus candidate for president.
Kurti’s position has been that the amendments to the Specialist Chambers Law should pass the first reading before the process of electing the president proceeds.
On Monday, the draft law amending the Law on the Specialist Chambers of Kosovo was approved in its first reading, while an agreement on the president has still not been reached.
Everything therefore now comes down to the final hours of the constitutional deadline: either the parties reach an agreement and the Assembly elects a president, or the country enters another electoral process.
If new elections are called, they would be the fourth elections within a two-year period, following the political crisis that emerged after the June 7 elections and the parties’ inability to find a solution for the presidency.
