Three months after the February 9 election, Parliament of Kosovo not yet constituted. None of the parties can form a government on their own, and no one wants to join a coalition. Dissatisfaction of the population is growing.
Kosovo is facing many urgent problems. The economy is one of the weakest in the entire region, people are emigrating en masse, and the political conflict with Serbia still causes great insecurity, he said. Deutsche says.
In just such a situation, there has been a political deadlock for three months - since the parliamentary elections held on February 9, not only has a new ruling majority not been formed, but the functioning of the parliament has been blocked, because the parties cannot agree on a candidate for the speaker of the assembly.
After the elections, the politicians found themselves in a stalemate. The ruling left-wing and nationalist Self-Determination party, led by Prime Minister Aljbin Kurti, won about 42 percent of the vote and has 48 deputies.
On the other side is the center-right camp with three opposition parties: the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) with around 22 percent of the vote (25 deputies), the Democratic Alliance of Kosovo (LDK) with 17 percent (20 deputies) and the Alliance for Kosovo (AAK) with seven percent of the vote (eight deputies).
The Kosovo Parliament has 120 deputies, of which 20 seats are reserved for minorities, regardless of the election result - ten for the Serbian minority and another ten for all other minorities.
According to the constitution, the assembly can start working only when the president of the parliament is elected. However, the elections for that post have so far been unsuccessful.
The strongest political force, Self-Determination, nominated the former Minister of Justice, Aljbuljena Hadžija, for the Speaker of the Assembly, but she was not elected in as many as 14 attempts.
The opposition parties are against her, because, as they judge, she brings "discord" and is not suitable for the position.
No deadlines or restrictions
Current Prime Minister Aljbin Kurti has so far tried unsuccessfully to get a majority of the 61 deputies without the center-right parties.
The phase between the announcement of the election results and the election of the Speaker of the Parliament is not regulated by the Constitution of Kosovo - there are no deadlines or restrictions. This means that the political deadlock continues.
Donika Emini, from the Advisory Group for Public Policy of the Balkans in Europe (BiEPAG), says that this was to be expected: "The elections transformed Kosovo into a real multi-party system. The current prime minister is clearly having a hard time with that. There is a general lack of willingness to compromise."
After numerous failed rounds of negotiations between the prime minister and representatives of the opposition parties, DSK leader Ljumir Abdižiku proposed the formation of a temporary, all-party government with a limited mandate until 2026, after which extraordinary parliamentary elections would be held, along with regular presidential elections.
Kurti and Self-Determination do not accept this.
Political egoism
After all previous options failed, it is now expected that President Vjosa Osmani will react and invite party representatives to talks.
But she can only warn them and has practically no influence. Theoretically, the parties' negotiations can be extended indefinitely.
Analyst Emini assesses that the biggest problem is party egoism: "A way out of this stalemate would be easily possible if the parties looked beyond their own interests and put the state's agenda first."
"First of all, Self-Determination should take the first step towards a compromise by changing the candidate for the position of Speaker of the Parliament," she says.
Dissatisfaction is growing.
During that time, dissatisfaction is growing in Kosovo. Inflation has reached record levels – electricity prices alone tripled last year. Energy supply has been bad for years - at the beginning of the year, for example, there was no electricity for ten hours a day.
Because of all this, emigration has increased sharply. The visa-free regime with the countries of the European Union, introduced in January 2024, also contributed to this.
Political scientist Nejmedin Spahiu assesses that the unsuccessful attempts to elect the speaker of the parliament are "a political game that Kurti is playing to gain time until he finds a majority of 61 deputies."
A game that, however, could backfire on Kurti, at least when it comes to the growing discontent among the population. "The biggest loser in all this is Aljbin Kurti. Because the longer the matter drags on, the more difficult the situation becomes for him," concluded Spahiu.
