Kurti has two weeks to secure a majority

President Vjosa Osmani has mandated the leader of the Vetëvendosje Movement, Albin Kurti, to form a new government. With this decision, the 15-day deadline begins within which Kurti must secure the support of at least five MPs to form the necessary majority in the Assembly.

The leader of the Vetevendosje Movement (LVV), Albin Kurti, has 15 days to secure the necessary votes to become prime minister for the next mandate. On Saturday, a day after the constitution of the Parliament, he was mandated by President Vjosa Osmani to form the new Government.

The Presidency announced that Kurti's name has been officially proposed by the Vetëvendosje Movement.

"This decision was made following the official proposal of the Vetevendosje Movement party, which won the largest number of seats in the Assembly from the results of the elections held on February 9 of this year. According to the Constitution, the mandate holder for the formation of the Government, Mr. Kurti, is obliged to submit the composition and program of the Government to the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo for approval no later than fifteen (15) days from the day of the decree," the Presidency's announcement states.

It is emphasized that Osmani expressed to Kurti his expectation that Kosovo will have a government with a full mandate as soon as possible.

"The President wished success to Mr. Kurti, the acting Prime Minister, with the hope that the Republic of Kosovo will soon have a Government with a full constitutional mandate," the announcement states.

To form the Government, Kurti needs at least 61 votes in the Assembly.

Currently, the Vetevendosje Movement, which came first in the February 9 elections, has 48 MPs. It also has support from seven MPs belonging to non-Serb communities, as well as Nenad Rašić, the only Serb lawmaker who does not belong to the Serbian List.

Kurti and Vetëvendosje certainly do not have the support of Bosnian MP Duda Balje, Egyptian Veton Berisha, or Gorani Adem Hoxha.

Based on this, Vetëvendosje also needs the support of at least 5 MPs.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to constitute the ninth legislature, Vetëvendosje held negotiations with the Social Democratic Initiative, which has three seats in the Assembly, but which did not result in an agreement.

On Saturday, this party did not indicate whether they have secured enough votes, or whether they are in negotiations for them.

And, a day ago, LVV MP Albulena Haxhiu, who is the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, declared that, with the exception of the Democratic Party (PDK) and the Serbian List, there is a willingness to cooperate with other entities.

"We will continue communications with other MPs in order to better understand whether they have the will to be part of the government," Haxhiu declared upon the constitution of the Assembly, the day before.

But political science professor Dorajet Imeri did not express the expectation that a majority could be easily achieved.

"The past months prove that the possibility of having a new parliamentary majority in the Kosovo Assembly is indeed small, but it remains to be seen how LVV has planned to achieve the necessary majority to form the new government," he said.

Imeri has mentioned two possibilities for how the process initiated for the formation of the new government can be concluded.

"Either there will be a LVV government that could be a minority government or the second possibility, which is even more realistic, is going to immediate elections," he said.

Representatives of the two largest parties that have been in opposition since the last mandate, the Democratic Party and the Democratic League, on Friday, did not express their willingness to become part of a government led by the Vetevendosje Movement, nor to take the helm of the new executive, if the Vetevendosje Movement fails to secure the necessary votes.

The approaching time for the presidential election is one of the reasons that, according to PDK leader Memli Krasniqi, the country should go to elections as soon as possible.

"Considering other deadlines, the expiration of the president's term, and the obligation to elect a president by March 4, I don't think there is room to elect a government that will last several months," he said.

The LDK has also shown readiness for elections.

"If the government is not formed, of course the votes of the Democratic League of Kosovo will be for the dissolution of the Assembly, because we cannot hold the institutions hostage," said MP Hykmete Bajrami.

According to Professor Dorajet Imeri, such statements prove that even parties like PDK and LDK do not have the necessary votes to successfully vote for a government without the LVV.

"Political parties, especially those that were in opposition until yesterday, have declared that they are ready to vote to dissolve the Assembly and have seen elections as the only option. This proves that they do not see themselves as part of a future government without the Vetevendosje Movement because they find it impossible, at least for the moment, numerically to achieve the necessary number or majority in the Kosovo Assembly," he said.

With the exclusion of any cooperation with PDK and the Serbian List, Vetëvendosje is left with three parties from which it can seek support for the formation of the new government: LDK, AAK, and Nisma Socialdemokrate.

And while discussions were held with the leader of the Initiative, Fatmir Limaj, in an attempt to constitute the Assembly, the representatives of the Democratic League rejected Vetëvendosje's invitation for talks.

The leader of this party, Lumir Abdixhiku, has proposed the formation of a national transitional government as a solution to overcome the institutional deadlock created by the lack of votes to elect the speaker of the Assembly in the first half of this year. It has been rejected by other parties. Representatives of the LVV have called the proposal an ominous scenario that would return Kosovo to the time of UNMIK.

According to the Constitution, if the Government does not receive the necessary majority of votes, the president within 10 days mandates another candidate. And if the Government fails to be elected a second time, the president calls for elections, which must be held within 40 days.