The eighth attempt to constitute the new Kosovo Assembly failed on 29 April, since Albulena Haxhiu, nominated by Vetëvendosje (VV), did not receive sufficient votes to be elected as the Speaker. The next session is scheduled for 1 May, as, according to the rules, members of the Assembly are obliged to meet every 48 hours until the process is completed, and there is no limit on the number of such sessions.
However, there is a period of one month to elect the Speaker of the parliament, starting from the date of verification of the mandates. If this does not happen, the new elections will be called.
The interlocutors of EWB do not rule out the possibility that the citizens of Kosovo will cast their ballots soon, either during the summer or in the autumn. According to them, in current circumstances, if either Albin Kurti, the leader of VV, or the opposition parties, succeed in forming the new government, it would be weak and short-lived.
In the parliamentary elections held on 9 February, VV secured a comfortable first-place finish, but scored a weaker result than in 2021, failing to win an outright majority. Major opposition parties have refused to cooperate with Kurti, leaving the country in political deadlock.
Visar Ymeri: Early elections would not significantly alter the outcome
Commenting on the political situation in Kosovo, Visar Ymeri, an Executive Director of Pristina-based Institute for Social Policy, and former leader of Vetëvendosje, states for European Western Balkans that the current institutional stalemate “surely, although only formally, gives the impression that new elections are the most possible scenario”.
“However, I don’t see a big chance for that to happen. Going to elections also requires a political agreement among political parties which is not easy to achieve. Especially when we have in mind the fact that there are political parties who risk polling below the threshold and therefore losing their institutional representation”, Visar Ymeri says.
In Ymeri’s opinion, “there are only a handful of options that would break the stalemate: either a coalition between the two biggest parties (VV-PDK), or a coalition of all apart from VV”.
“Neither of these coalitions is easy to achieve and none of them is a guarantee that the government would last beyond a year or two in power”, he stresses.
According to Visar Ymeri, early elections, if they are to be held, “are most probably going to be organized at the same time with local elections, scheduled to happen in October 2025”.
“The results of these early elections would be similar to what we have now. It will depend on who is going to be blamed for the current blockage, and also what pre-electoral coalitions are we going to see, if any. So far, according to the polls, PDK has remained stable in its electorate compared to February results. All the other parties show a slow decline”, Ymeri remarks.
Adelina Hasani: The political deadlock shows no sign of ending anytime soon
Similarly, Adelina Hasani, a researcher at the Kosovar Centre for Security Studies, says for EWB that the preliminary results of Kosovo’s February 9 parliamentary elections “have not given any political party enough seats to form a government independently”.
“The Assembly’s constitution remains stalled due to the lack of a political agreement on the election of the Speaker. The main challenge is that even the opposition does not have the numbers to form a government if Vetëvendosje fails to do so. As a result, the political deadlock shows no sign of ending anytime soon”, Adelina Hasani clarifies.
Hasani underlines that what makes the situation even more difficult is that any government eventually formed under these conditions is unlikely to be stable.
“So far, no solution has been proposed to break the deadlock, while the option of holding new elections continues to be discussed. Vetëvendosje and the Democratic Party of Kosovo, the two parties with the most votes, have repeatedly raised the possibility of new elections following the failure of the constitutive session”, she notes.
Hasani underlines that it remains hard to predict which party might gain from new elections.
“However, one thing is clear: no party is likely to benefit significantly, as political compromise will still be required to elect the president, appoint the deputy speakers, and establish functioning institutions”, Adelina Hasani concludes.
Aleksandar Šljuka: Vetëvendosje would prefer a new election during the summer
Aleksandar Šljuka, a researcher at the Mitrovica-based “New Social Initiative”, states for EWB that as long as the institutional stalemate continues, i.e. if the opposition continues to refuse to support the candidate of the VV for the post of the Speaker of the Assembly, and as long as the VV refuses to offer a compromise solution, in agreement with the opposition, “new elections become a realistic option”.
“Although the Constitution of Kosovo does not provide the deadlines for the election of the Speaker of the Assembly, or explicitly defines elections as a solution to such a stalemate, if the current crisis continues for too long, it is likely that a decision on early elections would be made in consultation with the Constitutional Court”, Aleksandar Šljuka clarifies.
Šljuka notes that, since February 2025, neither the VV nor the opposition have managed to clearly “present themselves as holders of a stable majority”.
“However, Kurti is closer to forming the new Government, as he has secured the support of several non-majority (non-Serb) members of parliament, as well as three Nisma MPs”, he remarks.
Šljuka adds that Vetëvendosje “would probably want the new elections to be held during the summer, when more members of the diaspora, who traditionally support this party, are expected to arrive in Kosovo”.
“Were the local and parliamentary elections held on the same day, it could cause a synergistic effect, but for VV it carries a risk because it performed poorly in previous local elections. Local elections can mobilise a different profile of voters and shift the focus away from the central campaign. In addition, if the elections are delayed until the time when the president of Kosovo is to be elected, the role played by the current president Vjosa Osmani could significantly disrupt the dynamics of the campaign, although such a scenario is unlikely to happen”, he concludes.