The President mandates Glauk Konjufca to form a government

The Vetëvendosje Movement will attempt to form a government for the second time, although it does not have the votes secured. On Tuesday, this party proposed its deputy leader, Glauk Konjufca, for prime minister. A few hours later, this proposal was accepted by the country's president, Vjosa Osmani, who mandated him to form the Government. Konjufca has sought the support of the opposition, but has ruled out the possibility of forming a coalition with it. And the opposition parties have expressed their opposition to giving VV a second chance to form the Government.

President Vjosa Osmani mandated the deputy leader of the Vetëvendosje Movement, Glauk Konjufca, as prime minister on Tuesday. 

Konjufca is the second candidate from the Vetëvendosje Movement that Osmani has mandated for the position of head of the executive. On October 26, the first mandated candidate, Albin Kurti, who is also the leader of Vetëvendosje, failed to receive the necessary votes in the Assembly. 

President Osmani said that the mandate of the second nominee from the Vetëvendosje Movement, Glauk Konjufca, is an obligation imposed on her by the Constitution. 

According to her, both in the meeting held at the end of October, but also in the meetings she held with the president of PDK, Memli Krasniqi, and that of LDK, Lumir Abdixhiku, it was made clear that apart from the Vetëvendosje Movement, other parties will not come forward with a name for the mandate. 

"Article 95, paragraph 4 of the Constitution of Kosovo clearly stipulates that within 10 days the President of the Republic shall appoint the other candidate, according to the same procedure. So, the Constitution does not say that the President can appoint, but it says she appoints the other candidate in case the first one fails. The Constitution does not leave any space or discretion to the head of state for not appointing the second candidate when there is such a proposal. On the contrary, the language used in the Constitution is mandatory, so it obliges the President of the country to appoint the second candidate," she said.

also Arberi 8 months ago VV with Konjufca aims for a short-term government, without secured votes

Speaking about the criteria he used when appointing Konjufca as prime minister, Osmani mentioned the interest of citizens and the functioning of Kosovo's institutions.

"Citizens have lost enough from the failure to establish institutions, and beyond political prejudices as president, I have concluded that the final verdict on whether the prime minister-designate has the majority votes or not is given by the 120 deputies of the Assembly of Kosovo. I think that it is in the general interest of the Republic of Kosovo and the citizens to have institutions and to make every possible effort to establish them so that they can at least adopt important decisions in the interest of the citizens," she said.

Among the decisions she considered important to approve, the head of state mentioned the budget extension or even the budget as a whole and the European Union Growth Plan.

"Among the main goals was to be able to approve the budget extension or even the budget as a whole if there was an agreement between political parties and above all to approve the Growth Plan, from which Kosovo benefits over 800 million euros, and also the agreement with the World Bank with around 100 million euros. We are talking about almost 1 billion euros for the Republic of Kosovo, which we cannot afford to lose," Osmani declared.

In the absence of the institutions and the failure to make the decisions she mentioned, according to her, the functioning of the state is at risk.

VV with Konjufca as prime minister aims for short-term government

The General Council of the Vetëvendosje Movement decided that Glauk Konjufca would be the second candidate for prime minister at a meeting held on Tuesday afternoon.

The leader of the Vetëvendosje Movement, Albin Kurti, has said that Konjufca's proposal for prime minister was made in order to avoid holding two elections within a few months. 

"Let's continue with the same cabinet that I proposed: I take Glauk's place and Glauk mine as we agreed last night in the presidency together. Let's then vote on the state budget and municipal budgets, let's vote on the European Union's growth plan for valuable funds, let's do some necessary work and then we go to the elections," Kurti said at the VV Council meeting.

The acting Prime Minister has called on the parties hitherto in the opposition to vote for Glauk Konjufca as Prime Minister. 

"We as LVV are ready for elections today, we are ready in December, next month we are even more ready in April next year, but we are giving this opportunity as a solution to this useless blockage caused by stubbornness and anger from wrong calculations, a blockage that is becoming harmful not for LVV, but for Kosovo. We say to the opposition, please do not become entrenched in the position of a blocker, here is your chance, do not let this chance slip away from our common Kosovo," he said.

According to Kurti, the eventual holding of elections in December of this year without the approval of the budget for next year risks the sustainability of the state and economic stability.  

"There are, you know, 85 thousand public servants who receive salaries from the budget, there are 300 thousand pensioners in total who receive pensions from the budget, there are 400 thousand children who receive allowances from the budget, there are tens of thousands of farmers and thousands of businesses that receive subsidies from the state. The country should not go to elections without a budget approved by the Assembly, even less when since the beginning of next year we have the issue of the election, namely the re-election of the president, unresolved," Kurti declared.
He added that, without an approved budget, the elections would not be able to be held either. "If this challenge is not overcome within the constitutional deadline, the country will have to go to new elections again. But without an approved budget, the elections would not be able to be held either, thus the country would be put into an unprecedented situation, from which no one knows how to get out."

Konjufca wants opposition votes for prime minister, but not a coalition with him

And with his proposal for prime minister, according to Glauk Konjufca, the Vetëvendosje Movement has made the biggest possible compromise. 

"Self-determination is making its own compromise, there is no possibility of more than that. We are proposing a government where Albin Kurti is not the prime minister and this is a very big compromise for LVV, now it is the opposition's turn to make its own compromise," Konjufca declared, within the meeting of the LVV General Council.

In the first attempt, Kurti, as prime minister-designate, received 56 votes out of the 61 needed to form a new government. To secure the necessary votes, Konjufca does not intend to form a coalition with any of the opposition parties. However, he has said that he expects their votes and cooperation from them for the vote on the state budget and that of RTK. 

also Arberi 8 months ago Osmani mandates Konjufca to form the Government

"I think this will not be a process in which we will seek any coalition agreement with political parties. The idea is to create a new government to avoid two very important things. The first is immediate elections and the second is to try to cooperate with parliamentary political parties to enable Kosovo to have its own budget for 2026. If these are not done, I think it would not be in the best interest of Kosovo," he said.

Konjufca has expressed confidence that the parties so far in the opposition will "reflect" and cooperate with him to avoid elections in December. 

"We risk missing the deadline (for the Growth Plan), Kosovo is expecting hundreds of millions of euros. For this, too, I will ask for the cooperation of the opposition entities, but not for such a long-term government with coalitions, just to simply remind them that these things will pass and then we will do exactly what the opposition entities want," Konjufca declared.

After being mandated by the president, he has 15 days to present his cabinet program to the Assembly.

The opposition so far has no votes for Konjufca as prime minister

But the nomination of Glauk Konjufca for prime minister by the Vetëvendosje Movement has not changed the position of the Albanian parties represented in the Parliament. They do not have votes for the Vetëvendosje Movement's new candidate for prime minister, Glauk Konjufca.

The Democratic Party of Kosovo, through a press release, announced that the only solution is elections. 

"The political reality is clear: no one has the majority to form a government from this legislature. PDK considers that ignoring this reality would only deepen the crisis, prolong institutional uncertainty and further damage the stability of the country," the statement said.

And according to the leader of the LDK, Lumir Abdixhiku, the action of the Vetëvendosje Movement is a theatrical performance, as it does not have the necessary votes. 

"Show the citizens that each Albanian party has given its political verdict, already deposited in the Presidency. This verdict is clear and simple. Today, mathematically, with the declared political will, there is no possibility of a majority. Why all this zeal for games without minimal political dignity? Don't you think 8 months of delay in the poorest country on the continent is enough to give it additional delays. Is staying in power at all costs, even without legitimacy, a new political value of a generation that should bring hope? These delays are only deepening crises, for which political responsibility will be held," Abdixhiku wrote.

The mandate of Konjufca by President Vjosa Osmani, without proof that she has the necessary majority, according to AAK leader Ramush Haradinaj, constitutes a constitutional violation. 

"The second candidacy by VV for government is nothing more than an attempt to continue seizing state institutions, in violation of all constitutional and political norms. This farce must end immediately and the country must go to extraordinary elections," said Haradinaj.

Neither the Social Democratic Initiative nor the Vetëvendosje Movement has support for its candidate. 

"Today it is clear to everyone: the Assembly of Kosovo does not have a majority. In the last meeting with the President of the Republic, all political parties have clearly and officially expressed their position: there is no parliamentary majority in this Assembly and the only solution remains new elections," the party's announcement states.

Konjufca, as the nominee for prime minister by the Vetëvendosje Movement, is supported by the multiethnic group. On his behalf, MP Elbert Krasniqi said that Kosovo needs the formation of a government as soon as possible, the approval of the country's budget, that of RTK and of the three municipalities: Pristina, Gjilan and Zubin Potok. 

"As a multiethnic group, we have also supported Prime Minister Albin Kurti as a candidate, taking into account not only past cooperation, but also the election result, as we have equally good experience with former Speaker of Parliament Konjufca, to whom we wish success," Krasniqi wrote on Facebook.

also Arberi 8 months ago VV proposes Konjufca as prime minister-designate

For Konjufca to be elected prime minister, he must be voted in by at least 61 deputies out of the 120 in the Kosovo Assembly. If even the second-in-command fails to secure the necessary votes to form a government, the country must go to elections. According to the Constitution, they must be held within 40 days of the failure of the second-in-command to become prime minister.

The Prime Minister-designate from the Vetëvendosje Movement, Glauk Konjufca, was the Speaker of the Parliament in the previous legislature.