The Constitution of the Assembly of Kosovo/The 49th attempt also fails

2025-07-19 11:40:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The deputies of the Assembly of Kosovo failed for the 49th time in a row to constitute the parliamentary composition resulting from the February elections.

Saturday's session was held amid announcements that later in the day the leader of the Vetëvendosje Movement, Albin Kurti, will meet with the leader of the Social Democratic Initiative, Fatmir Limaj, in an attempt to reach an agreement to break the political deadlock.

The next session will be held on July 21 at 11:00 AM.

Before the session, Social Democratic Initiative MP Xhevahire Izmaku said she expects the meeting to take place today and that there will be political will from Kurti.

"We expect the meeting to take place today. We are in the final constitutional deadlines. I expect a positive signal from this meeting, which I believe will happen today, and political will from the leader of the LVV," she told reporters.

According to Izmaku, her party expects Limaj to become Speaker of Parliament and LVV to lead the Government.

She said that there are no other offers, but added that this is the only alternative for the country to get out of the impasse and for the state to have institutions.

Izmaku also claimed that Limaj also has the support of MPs from other parties.

AAK MP Lah Brahimaj claimed before the start of the session that Nisma, LVV and Lista Srpska already have an agreement in principle. He said that this is based on their behavior, as after each failure of the session, MPs from Nisma, LVV and Lista Srpska leave the plenary hall, while other parties do not.

According to him, AAK does not have the votes for Limaj as parliamentary speaker.

There were different positions from the PDK before the start of the session. Nait Hasanaj said that he would not vote for Limaj for speaker, but Fadil Nura said that his party is interested in the country having institutions as soon as possible.

"I hope that PDK will vote for Fatmir Limaj," he said.

MPs from the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) and the Serbian List have been refusing to nominate members for a commission that would oversee the secret ballot for the election of the speaker of parliament since May 1.

The LVV, as the winning party in the elections, has the exclusive right to propose the speaker of parliament, and has proposed Albulena Haxhiu for the position of speaker of the legislative body. However, Haxhiu has been considered a divisive figure by the PDK and AAK, who have asked the LVV to change its proposal, while the LDK has said that it will not vote for any name from the winning party for this position.

Regarding the issue of the constitution of the Assembly, the Constitutional Court has obliged the deputies to elect the new Speaker of the Assembly within 30 days - until July 26 - and then vote for the deputy speakers, thus concluding the constitution of the legislative body.

Kosovo Assembly Member from the Social Democratic Initiative, Xhevahire Izmaku, told Radio Free Europe on Friday that her party stands by its demand that Limaj be elected speaker of parliament.

"We stand by our request - which we think is reasonable - for the position of the Speaker of the Assembly. We have the votes. If Fatmir Limaj's name is proposed, then the Assembly can be constituted on Monday," Izmaku told Radio Free Europe.