PRISTINA – Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti confirmed that he will invite leaders of opposition parties to discuss the election of Kosovo’s president. He said the invitations would aim to explore how to secure the required numbers of MPs needed to elect a president.
“I will send invitations to opposition party leaders so that we can see what options exist to reach at least 80 MPs. I repeat that I do not believe it is sufficient to have only 80 or 81. We should aim for around 84 to 86 in order to be certain that e can elect the president”, Kurti said, KoSSev reports.
Asked what he expects from the meetings, or what proposals he might hear, Kurti said he did not know and would wait to see.
“There will be meetings, but what offers will be presented at those meetings, we need to wait for them to take place first”, Kurti said. He added that there had not yet been enough time for internal consultations.
A ruling by the Constitutional Court last week annulled a decreed by Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani dissolving the Assembly. MPs were subsequently given a new deadline – 34 days – to elect a new president.
The decree to dissolve the Assembly followed an extraordinary session on 5 March, convened at the request of 42 MPs from the Self-Determination Movement, with the aim of electing Kosovo’s president. That session marked the final constitutional deadline.
For the position, Self-Determination nominated Glauk Konjufca and Fatmire Kolcaku. However, the session was suspended after only 66 MPs were present in the chamber, falling short of the two-thirds quorum required to elect a president.
A day later, President Osmani issued a decree dissolving the tenth legislature of the Assembly. The decree was first suspended and later declared to have no legal effect, while a new deadline for electing the president was set.
Kurti initially submitted a request for a constitutional review of the president’s decree on 7 March, followed by a similar request from Self-Determination MPs.
Before 5 March, Kurti had also held a series of meetings with opposition representatives, most notably with the leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK).
