LDK's Abdixhiku unveils 15-point agenda for a unity government

The leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo, Lumir Abdixhiku, unveiled on Thursday a 15-point agenda, based on which a unity government proposed by him would work, and which would include all other parliamentary parties.

Proposing the 15-point agenda as a way out of the political impasse, Abdixhiku said that "the national unity government is not a permanent solution, it is not the best possible one, but it is the responsibility that it necessarily bears for the current situation."

He said that this "is in the contract of honor between political forces and citizens to get the country out of the current crisis."

His agenda includes constitutional reforms, rebuilding partnerships with the European Union and the United States, increasing wages, and solving the energy crisis.

Abdixhiku's 15-point agenda

Point 1: functionalization of constitutional institutions and departmentalization of independent institutions.

Point 2: salary increases and implementation of the salary law.

Point 3: emergency package for managing the energy crisis.

Point 4: the start of the national project for gasification of Kosovo.

Point 5: rebuilding the partnership with the EU and the US and restoring an active foreign policy.

Point 6: voting on international agreements in the Kosovo Assembly.

Point 7: beginning the vetting process in the justice system.

Point 8: Starting projects of particular importance for the country.

Point 9: Constitutional amendments in the interest of institutional stability.

Point 10: drafting a national strategy for profound reform in education.

Point 11: institutional preparation for the Mediterranean Games.

Point 12: strategic security and defense reform.

Point 13: review of the municipal budget formula and necessary changes.

Point 14: preparation for free and fair democratic elections within 10 months.

Point 15: transparency and accountability mechanism for the transitional period.

Abdixhiku's proposal – announced long ago – comes as the country is plunged into a political crisis, unable to form new institutions even four months after the February 9 parliamentary elections.

This crisis comes because no party won the majority needed to govern alone.

Since April, MPs have gathered 30 times in the Kosovo Assembly in an attempt to constitute it, which is a necessary step towards creating a new government, but have repeatedly failed as the candidate of the incumbent Prime Minister's Vetëvendosje Movement, Albin Kurti, is failing to obtain the 61 votes needed to be elected speaker.

For this reason, the LDK has proposed the formation of a transitional government with all parliamentary parties, until the election of a new president in April next year.

Vetëvendosje has opposed this idea, the Democratic Party of Kosovo has said that it prefers an executive from among the parties that were in opposition last term. The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo also prefers such a coalition.

LDK had an offer from Vetëvendosje to form a governing coalition, but it did not accept it, and Abdixhiku repeated his opposition on Thursday.

"Because of the last four years, because of electoral pressures and because of the fundamental differences we have in values, this cooperation has been and is impossible," Abdixhiku said.

Deputies will meet again on Friday, in an attempt to form the Assembly.

Kosovo's President, Vjosa Osmani, reiterated on June 5 that the delay in the constitution of the Assembly harms the credibility of the institutions and the country's progress towards the Euro-Atlantic agenda.

Diplomatic representatives of the QUINT countries [United States, Great Britain, Italy, France and Germany] as well as the Head of the European Union Office in Kosovo, met a few days ago with the acting Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, requesting the rapid formation of institutions to ensure the well-being and prosperity of the citizens of Kosovo. /REL