Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on Friday that he will invite opposition party leaders to a meeting to discuss the election of the country’s new president, a matter that has ended up in the Constitutional Court.
Speaking to the media at an event at the University Clinical Center of Kosovo, Kurti described as “harmful and wrong” the lack of meetings in the last two days before midnight on March 5, when the Assembly met to vote for the new president.
But, he said that today he will send invitations to the leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, Bedri Hamza, and the leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo, Lumir Abdixhiku, for meetings at the beginning of next week.
Abdixhiku was quick in his response, expressing willingness to meet, but not before the Constitutional Court publishes its verdict on the matter.
“The Court’s verdict must be awaited with full institutional respect and political calm. An hour after the verdict, we can meet again,” Abdixhiku wrote on Facebook.
Kosovo failed to elect a successor to President Vjosa Osmani on March 5th – whose term ends on April 4th – and the case was sent to the country’s highest court due to a procedural crisis and differing constitutional interpretations.
Earlier this week, the Constitutional Court suspended until March 31 a decree by President Osmani, through which she had dissolved the Kosovo Assembly on March 6, a day after the two candidates proposed by Kurti’s ruling party, Glauk Konjufca and Fatmire Kollçaku-Mullhaxha, were not put to the vote at all due to lack of a quorum.
The Constitutional Court’s decision means that Osmani cannot call new elections and the Assembly cannot continue with the session to elect the president until March 31.
The opposition parties made the vote impossible because they left the hall, after preliminary talks with Kurti on a name that would enjoy the necessary support had failed.
Asked on Friday how he thought an agreement would be reached knowing the opposition’s positions, Kurti said: “The likelihood of consensus is determined only by others because our readiness for consensus is complete.”
Kurti reiterated his position that the country should not go to new elections, as according to him, such a thing is neither fair nor beneficial.
“Therefore, it is necessary to have an agreement with the opposition parties on the election of the president. The citizens of the Republic expect institutional stability from us and not repeated elections, therefore, there is no need for repeated elections, there is a need for us to have the verdict of the Constitutional Court as soon as possible and for the Assembly to start working,” he declared.
According to Kurti, it is not about who has the overwhelming majority, but the issue is the quorum of 80 MPs.
“I don’t believe we need new elections to have a competition to see if we’re getting 80 MPs,” he said.
Meanwhile, President Osmani did not present herself as a candidate from any party, even though Kurti’s party claimed to have offered her the opportunity.
For the ruling party, she did not have the necessary votes, while for other parties she did not personify the necessary unity that the figure of the president needs.
The President of Kosovo is elected with two-thirds of the votes in the first two rounds or with 61 votes in the third round, but 80 deputies are needed in the chamber for the session to be held./ REL
© BalkansWeb