LDK seeks the Presidency: Abdixhiku or Haziri

2026-06-24 16:36:59, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) could unify and offer the votes of its 18 elected deputies in the Kosovo Assembly, if the Vetëvendosje Movement, as the winning party of the June 7 snap parliamentary elections, offers it the post of president of the country in an eventual agreement.

This was stated by the vice-president of the LDK, Lutfi Haziri, to Radio Free Europe.

According to him, the LDK votes could be unified if the president's name comes from within the LDK ranks and not beyond this party.

"If this name is Lumiri [Abdixhiku, party chairman] or my name, then we can unify. Lumiri should be the first, ex officio, because he is the chairman. After Lumiri, I have the greatest consensus [within LDK]," Haziri emphasized.

In the June 7 elections, the LDK ran with the names of Vjosa Osmani as the presidential candidate and Lumir Abdixhiku as the prime ministerial candidate.

This party secured 18 seats in the Kosovo Assembly, but according to Haziri, for Osman's name, the LDK will not be able to secure the support of all its deputies.

"It could be like last time, so two or three votes could be divided, but in Lumir's case or my case, we could be unified," explained Haziri.

Osmani previously stated that her name "has not been, is not, and will not become an obstacle to the creation of institutions."

Haziri emphasized that the LDK currently "has only one main address", which it can address to the Vetëvendosje Movement, for any eventual agreement.

"Only with Lumir Abdixhiku. He is the chairman. We have not convened the [LDK] Assembly. If the Assembly convenes or there is an act of resignation, then we have a new situation. Until then, there is only one address and there is no second address," Haziri told Radio Free Europe.

This is his response to the statements of Donika Gërvalla, acting Minister of Justice in the Government of Albin Kurti, the leader of LVV.

In an interview with local television station KTV, Gërvalla, commenting on developments within the LDK, said that "there are several different currents" within it.

According to her, LVV has a problem talking to LDK, because "we don't know which current you are talking to", about any eventual agreement to consolidate the country's institutions, after the June 7 elections.

"I am asking that the person who potentially sits down to negotiate with us be the person who represents this party. We cannot sit down with five different people in the LDK. Because if the LDK wants to be a factor in the election of the president, then they must also guarantee the votes of their own parliamentary group," Gervalla stressed.

On the other hand, LDK vice-president Haziri explained that so far, LDK has not received "any invitation from LVV" to discuss any possible agreement.

According to him, if such an invitation reaches the party, it will be reviewed by LDK bodies and decision-making will be internal depending on what the LVV offer will be.

The June 7 snap elections were held after the previous legislature failed to vote in a new president within the constitutional deadline, as Vjosa Osmani's five-year term expired in April.

The LVV has said that they are ready to discuss the issue of creating new institutions, once the results of the June 7 elections are certified.

According to the Constitution, the vote of at least 61 deputies is required for the establishment of the Assembly and the election of the Government.

The winner of the elections, Kurti's LVV, is expected to have 53 mandates in the 120-seat Assembly and it could make up the numbers, together with non-Serb minorities, for the Assembly and the Government.

But, for the president, at least 80 votes - or two-thirds of the deputies - are required in the first two rounds, and the new president could be elected with 61 votes in the third round. /REL