PRISTINA – After nearly two months of talks and weeks of institutional deadlock, Vetëvendosje (LVV) and Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) reached an agreement today, KoSSev reports. They agreed on Bekim Sejdiu, a professor at the Faculty of Law and former judge of the Constitutional Court, who has accepted the nomination.
Leaders of Vetëvendosje and LDK, Albin Kurti and Lumir Abdixhiku, confirmed the agreement today following another meeting.
After the meeting, Abdixhiku said that the talks had been ongoing since 9 July, when discussions on institutional stability and the election of the president began.
He added the negotiations had “not been easy”, describing them as intensive and exhaustive, with several names considered during the process.
He said that both sides agreed on Sejdiu as a consensus candidate.
According to Abdixhiku, the aim was to identify a figure who could command broader support and whose professional and public record would match the profile of president on which the two sides had previously reached agreement in principle.
Bekim Sejdiu, who attended today’s press conference following the meeting between Kurti and Abdixhiku, confirmed that he had accepted the nomination.
He said that Vetëvendosje and the LDK had held intensive negotiations in recent days with the aim of finding a non-partisan candidate for president, adding that he was honoured by the two parties’ agreement on his nomination.
“I have accepted this proposal, although my ambitions have always been more focused on academic and professional fields. Nevertheless, fully aware of the burden and responsibility carried by the office of president, as well as of the current political context, I have placed myself at the service of the Republic of Kosovo, its citizens and our country, and I will serve them with dedication,” Sejdiu said.
He nevertheless stressed that today’s political agreement does not mean that the process has been completed.
“As we all know, the process of electing the President of the Republic of Kosovo has both a political dimension and a constitutional procedure that must take place in the Assembly,” he said.
As Koha noted, Sejdiu is a professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Pristina. He served as a judge of the Constitutional Court from April 2015 until May 2021, when he resigned in order to continue his academic career at the University of Pristina.
Before joining the Constitutional Court, he also worked in diplomacy. He served as Kosovo’s first ambassador to Turkey, later as consul general in New York, and was also appointed ambassador to Canada.
KoSSev recalls that under the Constitution, the president is elected by secret ballot in the Assembly. A two-thirds majority of all MPs, or 80 votes, is required in the first two rounds. If no candidate secures that majority, the president may be elected in the third round by a majority of all MPs, meaning at least 61 votes.
This means that, in addition to the political agreement between LVV and the LDK, the participation of other parliamentary parties and MPs will also be necessary for the procedure to be carried out.
An even more immediate problem is that the new legislature of the Assembly has still not been fully constituted. The issue of the presidency has, in fact, become central in recent weeks to the dispute over the continuation of the Assembly’s constitutive session.
