The deputies of the Democratic Party of Kosovo and the Alliance have continued their action in front of the Kosovo Government building for the fourth consecutive week, blocking the entrance to the building and demanding the unblocking of the constitution of the institutions. PDK activists and assembly members from Prizren and Suhareka also joined the Friday action. Meanwhile, the Democratic League of Kosovo did not join the protest. The six LDK deputies who opposed the agreement reached between their party and the Vetëvendosje Movement on the issue of the president did not participate in the action either.
PDK and the Alliance are demanding that the incumbent Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, take steps to constitute the Parliament and form new institutions, stressing that the country cannot continue for a long time with incumbent institutions. The political deadlock has been ongoing since August 8, when the constitutive session of the Parliament was interrupted. Since then, the chairman of the session, Avni Dehari, a Vetëvendosje MP, has not called for its continuation.
On the other hand, Kurti has stated that the session for the constitution of the Parliament is expected to be held after a political agreement on the president is reached. The agreement between Vetëvendosje and LDK, made public on Friday, foresees the support of Bekim Sejdiu's candidacy for president. However, this agreement has encountered opposition within the LDK Parliamentary Group. Avdullah Hoti, Hykmete Bajrami, Kujtim Shala, Armend Zemaj, Arben Gashi and Janina Ymeri have announced that they will not support it with the argument that they do not want to give "more power to Kurti", whose party won the June 7 elections and is expected to have the numbers to form the new Government.
After the parliamentary group meeting, the leader of the LDK, Lumir Abdixhiku, stated that the position of the six MPs makes it difficult to secure the necessary votes to elect the president and increases the risk that the country will go to new elections. For constitutional law experts, the debate over the six LDK MPs who oppose the agreement with Vetëvendosje cannot be reduced only to their position. According to them, the mandate of the MP is individual and the Constitution does not oblige him to vote according to the party's decision.
Kosovo Institute for Law Researcher Naim Jakaj told Radio Free Europe that political agreements have political weight, but do not deprive an MP of the right to make a decision according to his conviction. “If a part of LDK MPs does not support the candidate, this may create a political problem for the party that entered into the agreement, but it does not mean that they alone are responsible for the eventual failure of the election of the President,” he said. Lecturer Abit Hoxha also believes that democracy ensures the independent opinion of MPs and provides mechanisms that enable MPs to vote as they wish. “Otherwise, it would be the tyranny of the majority,” he said.
Political experts, meanwhile, say that the lack of consensus within the LDK has increased the chances that Kosovo will go to the polls. "LDK MPs have said several times that they are against any cooperation with Kurti and this also means electing the president. It is now clear that the chances are very high that we will go to the polls, since the division within the LDK is very large and this is not a novelty, this is something that has been evident since before, so currently in the situation we find ourselves in, the only solution will be new elections," Artan Alijaj told RTK.
