The deadlock in the Assembly is not broken even after the 15th attempt

2025-05-13 10:51:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

For the fifteenth time in a row, the deputies of the Kosovo Assembly failed on Tuesday to constitute the ninth parliamentary composition, resulting from the February elections.

Lawmakers refused for the seventh time in a row to form a commission to oversee a secret ballot for the new head of the legislative body – according to a proposal made on May 1 by the chairman of the session, Avni Dehari, after the Vetëvendosje Movement (LVV) nominee for Speaker of the Assembly, Albulena Haxhiu, failed in several ballots to receive the 61 votes needed to be confirmed in the post.

The next failure occurred a day after the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) sent the issue of the secret ballot for the speaker of the Kosovo Assembly to the Constitutional Court of Kosovo.

The request for "interpretation of the change in voting during the procedures for electing the Speaker of Parliament", submitted by MPs from the AAK, was also supported by MPs from the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK).

In the continuation of the constitutive session, on May 13, PDK, LDK, AAK and the Serbian List again refused to propose a representative who would ensure the smooth conduct of the secret ballot.

MPs from parties that were in opposition in the previous legislature say that the way the LVV is attempting to have the speaker of parliament voted through a secret ballot is unconstitutional.

AAK MP Time Kadrijaj has called on the Constitutional Court to impose "a temporary suspension, a temporary measure to prohibit the holding of hearings, until it addresses this case as a priority and makes a decision."

The constitutive session will continue on Thursday, May 15, at 10:00 AM.

So far, MPs have only passed two items on the agenda of the constitutive session: the report of the Temporary Committee for the Verification of Mandates and the oath of MPs.

But the process has stalled at the third point: the election of the speaker of parliament.

Haxhiu of LVV is being considered a divisive figure by two parliamentary parties: PDK and AAK.

These two entities have requested that LVV propose another name for the speaker of parliament. LDK, meanwhile, has said that it has no votes for any of LVV's nominees for the position of speaker of parliament.

The nomination for parliamentary speaker is the exclusive right of the election winner, LVV, which insists that Haxhiu deserves to be elected and, although it has sought a political agreement with other parties, has ruled out the possibility of bringing forward a candidate other than itself.

Meanwhile, the Kosovo Presidency announced on May 12 that President Vjosa Osmani will begin consultations with political parties on May 15, in an effort to unblock the impasse in the Assembly.

The deputies must elect the president and five vice presidents to finally constitute the new Assembly.

Only after the constitution of the Assembly can the new Government be formed./ REL