PRISTINA – Kosovo’s Assembly elected Dimal Basha as its new Speaker on Tuesday, with 73 deputies voting in favor, 30 against, and three abstaining.
Basha’s election clears the way for the formal constitution of the Assembly and the formation of a new government, ending months of political deadlock following the 9 February parliamentary elections.
A three-term MP, Basha has previously served on the Assembly’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Legislation, the Oversight Committee of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency, and the Stabilisation and Association Committee.
In his first address as speaker, Basha emphasized the responsibility of his new role, the importance of the legislature, and called on deputies across party lines to cooperate.
He underlined that Kosovo was “built on sacrifices and on the shared conviction that our freedom and our state are greater than any personal interest.”
“Our republic was built on countless sacrifices: on the blood, work and perseverance of those who believed that the future of the nation was more important than their own lives,” Basha said.
He also called on Serbia to recognize Kosovo’s independence.
Tuesday’s vote came after four failed attempts to constitute the Assembly, following a Constitutional Court ruling that required deputies to form a new legislature within 30 days starting August 18.
In the three previous sessions, the winning party, Vetëvendosje, which holds the right to nominate candidates for speaker, had put forward five different candidates, none of whom managed to secure the minimum 61 votes required.
The constitutive session of the Assembly had originally opened on 15 April, but quickly fell into crisis amid disputes between parties over whether the vote for speaker should be open or secret, as well as over Vetëvendosje’s initial nominee, Albulena Haxhiu.
The Constitutional Court later ordered the Assembly to elect a new speaker by open ballot within 30 days, allowing a maximum of three votes for the same candidate.
Reactions to Basha’s election were mixed.
Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) leader Memli Krasniqi said he did not believe even Vetëvendosje’s own MPs were satisfied with the choice of Basha, arguing it was effectively the decision of acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti and his movement.
Krasniqi stressed that the PDK, by backing Basha, had voted only to unblock the process of constituting the Assembly.
Vetëvendosje controls 48 seats in parliament, not enough to elect a speaker without support from other parties.
Lumir Abdixhiku, the LDK leader whose party ultimately voted against, described Basha’s election as “a triumph of ignorance and an unforgivable mistake” by those who supported it.
“This is not the Kosovo we ever envisioned. Kosovo must aim higher. Political misfortunes and the triumphs of historical ignorance will be overcome. One day, there will be light”, Abdixhiku wrote on Facebook.
