PRISTINA – The deadline for the election of the new president of Kosovo by the parliament ends today, but it is still uncertain whether the session of the Assembly will take place. This morning, Prime Minister Albin Kurti stated that he would continue to make efforts to elect the president.
“We hope that we will have two candidates in order to meet the constitutional requirement for the election to take place”, Kurti told Koha Ditore.
The Constitution of Kosovo states that a new president must be elected no later than 30 days before the end of the current president’s term, i.e. by 5 March, since the term of office of the incumbent President Vjosa Osmani ends on 4 April.
The president is elected by secret ballot in the Assembly of Kosovo. An election requires a two-thirds majority of all 120 MPs (80 votes).
Provided that no candidate obtains the required majority in the first two rounds of voting, a third round is held between the two candidates who received the highest number of votes in the second round. In this round, the candidate who receives a majority of the votes of the MPs present is elected. If the president is not elected even in the third round, the Assembly is dissolved, and new elections are called, which must be held within 45 days.
On Wednesday night, the Speaker of the Assembly, Albulena Haxhiu, stated that she cannot call a session to elect the president until two candidates for president are proposed.
“Based on Article 36 (of the Constitution), the election of the president must take place no later than 30 days before the end of the current president’s term. The deadline is March 5, 2026, so tomorrow, which makes the situation more urgent,” Haxhiu declared, requesting the proposal of another candidate.
She clarified that only one official candidacy was accepted – current Foreign Minister Glauk Konjufca, who was proposed by Vetëvendosje (VV).
According to the law, the election process cannot begin without at least two candidates with 30 signatures each.
There had been a clear divergence between Albin Kurti and the incumbent president of Kosovo in the previous days. Although Vjosa Osmani expressed her desire to win a second term, VV omitted her and nominated Konjufca, causing tensions and a “blame game” between the presidency and the ruling party.
Gazeta Express reports that Osmani’s chief of staff, Learta Hollaj, said on Wednesday night that they would accept Vetëvendosje’s offer of 33 signatures to enable the president to run for another term if she wins the 57 votes of the ruling party for Osmani.
“We would definitely accept the signatures if they would also include the 57 votes of Vetëvendosje, as was the initial agreement. It is interesting that things have changed along the way, so yes, we would accept the offer, but the offer must be secured with votes, because President Osmani is entering this race to be re-elected,” Hollaj said in an interview for KTV.
She said that for the first time, Osmani was offered to enter the race on Tuesday evening, as he said, to become a counter-candidate to Foreign Minister Glauk Konjufca.
According to her, Osmani was told to enter the race “only formally”.
In addition, Hollaj stressed that the presidency was ready to send constitutional amendments to the Parliament for voting, which would allow the election of the president by the citizens.
