The constitutive session of the Assembly of Kosovo will continue today at 12:00 PM, reports Gazeta Sinjali.
This was confirmed in an announcement published on the official website of the Assembly.
A similar session was held on Tuesday at around 11:00 AM, but it was interrupted after roughly two hours because the MPs failed to approve the report of the Temporary Commission for the Verification of Mandates and Quorum a report that would have paved the way for the swearing-in of the newly elected MPs.
Opposition parties the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) voted against the report. According to them, members of the outgoing government who were elected as MPs should have formally resigned in advance in order to be sworn in as part of the new parliamentary assembly.
On the other hand, MPs from the ruling party, Vetëvendosje (LVV) — led by outgoing Prime Minister Albin Kurti — defended the position that no further resignations were needed, arguing that the government had automatically entered caretaker status after its mandate ended on March 23.
Following the failed vote, the session chairperson, Avni Dehari, adjourned the meeting and stated he would write to President Vjosa Osmani seeking clarification on the next steps in the process of verifying mandates and officially launching the new (ninth) legislature.
Yesterday, the Office of the President confirmed that it had received Dehari’s letter regarding the adjournment of the April 15 session.
In her official response, President Osmani emphasized that the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, along with relevant case law from the Constitutional Court, requires interpretations that enable — rather than obstruct — the functioning of institutions.
She cited the Constitutional Court’s decision in case no. K072/20, which states that constitutional structures must be interpreted in a way that “enables rather than blocks” the functioning of state institutions derived from the citizens’ vote.
As the winning party in the election, Vetëvendosje holds the right to propose the Speaker of Parliament, who must be elected with at least 61 votes.
The same number of votes — 61 — is needed to approve the formation of a new government, if and when that vote takes place.
It remains to be seen whether today’s session will produce an agreement among political parties to approve the Temporary Commission’s report and proceed with the MPs’ swearing-in, thereby officially launching the new legislature of the Assembly of Kosovo. All eyes are now on the 12:00 PM session, which is expected to determine the next steps in the country’s political process.
