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The Court of Justice overturns Osman's decree/What will happen to the process of electing the president of Kosovo?

2026-03-25 17:33:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Court of Justice overturns Osman's decree/What will happen to the

Lawmakers in Kosovo have over a month to elect the country's new president, after the country's highest court on Wednesday overturned a decree by the current president, Vjosa Osmani, to dissolve the Assembly after failing to elect a president in a session on March 5. The decree, according to the Constitutional Court, has no legal effect.

The Constitutional Court published the full judgment regarding Osman's decree from March 6, ruling that if within 34 days, from today when the judgment entered into force, the deputies do not elect the president, the Assembly will be dissolved.

According to the decision, after the dissolution of the legislative body, Kosovo must hold new elections within 45 days.

The decision comes after the Constitutional Court temporarily suspended until March 31 the decree of President Vjosa Osmani to dissolve the Parliament.

She had prohibited any action by President Osmani regarding the March 6 decree, as well as the work of the Assembly until the end of the suspension.

The request for the assessment of the constitutionality of the decree dissolving the Assembly was submitted by Prime Minister Albin Kurti on behalf of the Government.

How did it get here?

At the March 5 session, the ruling party presented two candidates for president: Glauk Konjufca and Fatmire Kollçaku-Mullhaxha, after preliminary talks between Kurti and the two main opposition parties, the Democratic Party of Kosovo and the Democratic League of Kosovo, for an acceptable name had not borne fruit.

The session was interrupted due to lack of quorum, after being abandoned by opposition parties.

A day after the session was adjourned on March 5, Osmani issued a decree dissolving the Assembly and immediately held a meeting of political parties to discuss the date of early elections.

The meeting was attended by leaders of the opposition parties, the Democratic Party of Kosovo, the Democratic League of Kosovo and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, but not Prime Minister Kurti's party.

Osmani justified her decree, saying that March 5 was the deadline for electing a new president of Kosovo – as her mandate ends on April 4 – but that MPs had failed to meet the legal deadlines.

However, the ruling party insisted that Osman's decree had no basis, since the procedures for electing the president had begun on March 5 and that there was a 60-day deadline to complete the process, which is why it appealed to the Constitutional Court.

The President of Kosovo is elected with two-thirds of the votes in the first two rounds or with 61 votes in the third round, but 80 deputies are needed in the chamber for the session to be held.

For the opposition parties, the two names presented by the ruling party were unacceptable and they insisted on a political agreement or the presentation of a name acceptable to all.

Osmani herself aimed for a second term, but she did not enjoy the support of the parties.

For the ruling party, she did not have the necessary votes, while for other parties she did not personify the necessary unity that the figure of the president needs. /REL