One last attempt to constitute the Assembly

2025-07-26 11:10:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The elected deputies of the ninth legislature of the Assembly of Kosovo will gather today at 2:00 PM for the last time as part of numerous constitutive sessions, before the 30-day deadline set by the Constitutional Court ends.

In her decision on June 26, the Constitutional Court ordered that the constitution process, including the election of the Speaker and Deputy Speakers of the Assembly, be completed within 30 days.

If the constitution of the Assembly is not carried out today, even in the 53rd attempt, the deputies will not be able to take any decision or action towards the constitution of the Assembly.

This is because a decision of the Constitutional Court, published in the late hours of July 24, imposed an ex officio temporary measure from July 27 to August 8.

In its reasoning, the Court stated that if an ex officio interim measure were not imposed on the decisions and actions of elected members of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo after July 26, 2025, any decision and action taken after this date until the Court's decision on the requests "could cause irreparable damage to the constitutional order of the Republic of Kosovo and the functioning of key institutions in the Republic of Kosovo."

The court supported the imposition of the measure on the grounds that there are two cases pending on the issue of constitution, the one presented by the Democratic Party of Kosovo and the Democratic League of Kosovo.

Since its inception on April 15th until Friday, the Assembly has met in 52 attempts to elect the speaker, without reaching a majority of at least 61 votes.

The Vetëvendosje Movement – the winner of the elections – has the exclusive right to propose a candidate for speaker of parliament, but this party's chosen candidate, Albulena Haxhiu, is considered unacceptable by some political groups.

The Democratic Party of Kosovo and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo see him as a divisive figure, while the Democratic League of Kosovo has said it will not vote for any LVV candidate.

The LVV argues that it is the obligation of all MPs to constitute the Assembly.

PDK, LDK, AAK and the Serbian List are also opposing the change in voting from open to secret. The Albanian parties have argued that in the Constitutional Court's ruling, the secret ballot is unconstitutional, but the LVV has expressed a different opinion.

With the 30-day mandate approaching, the leader of the Social Democratic Initiative, Fatmir Limaj – whose party has three MPs – and the leader of the LVV, who is also the acting Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, met last week in an attempt to find a solution. However, so far they have not announced any agreement on the constitution of the Assembly, and subsequently the formation of the Government.

In addition to arguing that a compromise does not seem imminent, the President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, on July 22 addressed the Constitutional Court with two requests: to clarify what the legal consequences are if the Assembly is not constituted by July 26, and for the Constitutional Court to impose a temporary measure on the 30-day deadline, until a ruling is issued regarding the request for legal consequences.

In addition to electing the new Speaker, MPs must also elect five deputy speakers to complete the process of constituting the Assembly.

Since April 15 – when the constitutive session began – non-governmental organizations have continuously called on MPs to form the new institutions.

These calls were also joined by foreign diplomats on Friday, such as the ambassadors of Germany, the European Union and others who were present at the 52nd constitutive session./ Rel