Kosovo's parliament faces post-election deadlock after opposition blocks minority ruling party
PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — The inaugural session of Kosovo's newly-elected parliament was cancelled on Tuesday after it failed to constitute new lawmakers, a move which could take the country into a prolonged legal saga before a new cabinet can be formed.
Following a short delay to proceedings, the opposition voted against a report into whether acting prime minister Albin Kurti and his cabinet acted in line with the constitution when they failed to resign following the Feb. 9 election, when Kurti's left-wing Self-Determination Movement, or Vetevendosje!, won 48 out of 120-seats, falling short of the majority needed to form a cabinet on its own. In 2021, the party won 58 seats.
Though Vetevendosje! distributed a letter of resignation on Tuesday, as required under the constitution, the acting speaker cancelled the session, adding that parliament would consult the president on how to proceed.
Once the lawmakers' mandate and the election of the parliament's speaker and its deputies have been approved, the president will send to parliament a letter of nomination for Kurti, who Vetevendosje! has designated as prime minister.
While he needs a simple majority in parliament, or 61 votes, to form a cabinet, Kurti has previously ruled out a coalition with the center-right Democratic Party of Kosovo, or PDK, which was runner up in the election with 24 seats, or the conservative governing Democratic League of Kosovo, or LDK, which won 20 seats, or the right-wing Alliance for Kosovo's Future, AAK, which has 8 seats.
The three opposition parties have also ruled out any coalition with Kurti or Vetevendosje!. Kurti could turn to 10 non-Serb minority MPs, but he would still need at least three other votes.
If Kurti fails to form a cabinet, the president is entitled to turn to any of the other parties. If no party can form a cabinet, the country will face early parliamentary election.
A new cabinet would be needed not only to run the country's economy and other services, but also proceed with the 14-year-long normalization talks with Serbia which have failed to make progress and bilateral ties are tense.
Around 11,400 people died in the 1998-1999 war in Kosovo, mostly from Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority. A 78-day NATO air campaign ended the fighting and pushed Serbian forces out.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, with most Western nations recognizing its sovereignty, but Serbia and its allies Russia and China don't.
The EU and the United States have urged Kosovo and Serbia to implement agreements reached two years ago that include a commitment by Kosovo to establish an Association of Serb-Majority Municipalities and Serbia's obligation to provide de facto recognition of Kosovo.
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Semini reported from Amsterdam, Netherlands.
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