Kosovo parliament session on September 11, 2026. Photo: BIRN.
Kosovo’s parliament failed to find a way out of a fresh crisis on Friday when MPs reconvened in two attempts to elect new deputy speakers.
The legislature derived from the June 7 snap partliamentary elections has not yet been inaugurated because the ruling Vetevendosje party refuses to support proposed candidates from two opposition parties, Vlora Citaku, from the Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, and Kujtim Shala, from the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK.
Under the constitutional rules, parliament cannot be considered inaugurated until the speaker and all five deputies are elected.
Albulena Haxhiu from Vetevendosje was elected speaker on Wednesday, Ardian Gola, from the same party, was installed as deputy on Friday.
When Citaku of the PDK received only 44 of a minimum of 61 votes on Friday, her party colleagues left the session and accused Albin Kurti’s Vetevendosje of blocking the inauguration of parliament.
“As of today, the PDK has no reason to participate in parliamentary sessions and we will take the case to the Constitutional Court,” Bedri Hamza, the PDK leader, said as soon as speaker Albulena Haxhiu interrupted the session.
In the June elections, Vetevendosje won 53 of the 120 seats in the chamber, well ahead of the next-placed PDK, which won 22 seats. The LDK came third with 18 seats.
Vetevendosje claims it can call on 62 MPs to form a new government, again relying on the support of MPs from ethnic minority communities – Roma, Ashkali, Egyptian, Turk and Bosniak – plus one of the Serb MPs.
However, the wider crisis that led to the June 7 elections has not been solved, as parliament needs to elect a new president of Kosovo within two months of its inauguration. Failure to do so would trigger another election, the fourth within less than two years.
As the post-election blockage enters its second month, Kurti and LDK leader Lumir Abdixhiku agreed on August 31 to nominate Bekim Sejdiu, a former Constitutional Court judge and former diplomat, as Kosovo’s president. But, days later, six LDK MPs refused to support his candidacy, making the necessary quorum impossible.
For a president to be elected, a candidate must win at least 80 votes in the first two rounds. In a potential third round, they need a simple majority of only 61 votes.
Arberie Nagavci, head of Vetevendosje’s parliamentary group, said its MPs would not support any candidate for deputy speaker who is against the deal on the new president. Both Citaku and Shala have announced their opposition to Sejdiu’s candidacy.
“Of course, the MPs who are in favour of the Vetevendosje-LDK agreement [on the president] have the support of our 53 MPs,” Nagavci said after the interruption of the session.
Parliament will resume work on Sunday.