Kurti: The vote for Emilija Rexhepi cannot be canceled

2025-10-02 15:51:38, Kosova & Bota CNA

Kosovo's acting Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, has said that the election of Emilija Rexhepi as deputy speaker of the Kosovo Assembly from the non-Serb minority "cannot be annulled," as the country awaits the full verdict of the highest court regarding the vote for the deputy speakers of the legislative body.

The Constitutional Court announced on September 30th through a decision that the Assembly of Kosovo has not yet been constituted and that this process is not complete without the election of the deputy speaker from among the Serb community.

Asked by journalists during an event in Pristina about the court's decision, Kurti - who is also the leader of the Vetëvendosje Movement - said that "we need to see the verdict in its entirety to give our assessment."

But, he added that "it is a waste of time and a harm that the Kosovo Assembly is not functioning. The Assembly has elected the speaker, Dimal Basha, and has elected four deputy speakers, Albulena Haxhiu, Vlora Çitaku, Kujtim Shala and Emilija Rexhepi."

"No one is filling the vacant seat for the deputy speaker from the Serbian community. Emilija Rexhepi is the deputy speaker of the Assembly, the vote for Emilija Rexhepi cannot be canceled. Therefore, we are left with only the last deputy speaker from the Serbian community," Kurti stressed.

The Constitutional Court has not yet published the full September 30th verdict, and it usually takes about a week to do so.

Emilija Rexhepi was elected deputy speaker of the Assembly by the non-Serb minority in a separate vote from the Serb minority in August, despite the fact that in the past they had always voted in a package.

While Rexhepi received the necessary votes, the candidate of the largest Serb party in Kosovo, the Serbian List, did not receive the votes, as did the other candidates of this party, cast in a ballot by the new speaker of the Assembly, Dimal Basha.

This caused the Serbian List to complain to the Constitutional Court about Basha's action, who later unilaterally declared the Assembly constituted, despite the failure to elect a deputy speaker from the Serbian minority.

The Constitutional Court also emphasized that the hearing, which began on April 15, must be concluded within 12 days of the entry into force of its September 30 judgment.

The failure to form a new Parliament after the February elections has plunged the country into political crisis.

The largest Albanian parties have not reached an agreement to move the process forward, and as a result, the Constitutional Court has been forced to issue judgments several times.

Kurti's Vetëvendosje Movement came first and won 48 seats in the Assembly, leaving behind the Democratic Party of Kosovo with 24 seats, the Democratic League of Kosovo with 20, the Serbian List with nine, and the coalition between the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo and the Social Democratic Initiative, with eight.

Another 11 seats belong to minorities.

The international community has repeatedly called for Kosovo to form new institutions as soon as possible. /REL