The President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, discussed on Wednesday with the political parties, but without the participation of the Vetëvendosje movement in power, about the possible date of the regular parliamentary elections in the country.
According to the law, regular elections must be held no earlier than 60 days and no later than 30 days before the end of the parliament's mandate. The current legislature convened on March 22, 2021.
“The first is January 26, then two Februarys, February 9 and February 16, since our law provides that elections can only be organized on Sundays. Therefore our discussion was only in the context of these four dates. There was no excessive insistence, there were preferences because the difference is not very big, we are talking in a few weeks. Some parties preferred January 26, there are three or four others who preferred February 9, two or three more February 16. And there were other parties that had no preferences at all.” she said.
President Osmani said that at the meeting there were no parties that expressed their will for early elections.
The Democratic Party of Kosovo and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo in the opposition said that they have proposed that the elections be held on January 26.
The head of the Vetëvendosje movement, Prime Minister Albin Kurti, and Lista Serbe, the main subject of Kosovo Serbs, did not participate in the advisory meeting.
The President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani said that she does not know the reasons for the Prime Minister's non-participation and although the Vetëvendosje movement wanted to send the vice-president of the party Glauk Konjufca for advice, but his participation was rejected, since the invitation was made to the heads of the political parties.
“The head of the Vetëvendosje movement was not present today, we don't know the reasons, I believe you can ask him directly, I assume he is in the office so you can go and ask him. There were also two absences there, the Serbian List, of course there was no answer and we did not expect such a thing and Elbert Krasniqi's party despite the fact that it has confirmed it in advance”. President Osmani said.
In a response from the office of the Prime Minister of Kosovo, it is stated that at the time of the consultations, Prime Minister Kurti was invited as a guest of honor to a lunch with 21 ambassadors accredited to Kosovo. “The lunch is scheduled for July 10 and the confirmation was made three weeks ago. Unable to participate in the proposed schedule, Prime Minister Kurti has suggested that the Vetëvendosje Movement be represented by its first vice-president, Glauk Konjufca, which we consider should be acceptable”. said in the government's response, underlining that Prime Minister Kurti is ready to attend any future meeting at a convenient day and time.
“I invite them once every four years for regular elections, it is not often that the president invites for such meetings or consultations on topics of national interest, but each party leader sets his own priorities, so the prime minister has set his own priorities. So he gave you this answer, we don't have this answer, an answer he had earlier was that it is not in Kosovo, but it is”. said the president Vjosa Osmani.
In the last year, both leaders have faced disagreements, especially regarding Kosovo's relations with Western allies who have criticized some of the government's actions against the situation in the north of the country inhabited by a Serbian majority.
On February 14, 2021, the Vetëvendosje movement together with the Guxo movement of president Vjosa Osmani emerged victorious in the parliamentary elections, securing over 50 percent of the votes. The mandate of the current government ends at the beginning of 2025 and if the elections are held according to the regular election calendar, the government of Prime Minister Albin Kurti will be the first to fulfill the full four-year mandate.
However, it still remains unclear if this will happen, since voices have been heard in the Vetëvendosje movement that prefer holding the elections in the fall of this year.
In May, the Democratic Party in the opposition proposed a motion of no confidence in the government of Kosovo to lead the country to early elections and that they be held at the beginning of July. Although the proposal was supported by the ruling party, the other two opposition parties opposed such a step, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Albin Kurti as a condition for the dissolution of the parliament.
