The 25th attempt to constitute the Kosovo Assembly also fails

For the twenty-fifth time in a row, the deputies of the Kosovo Assembly failed on Monday to constitute the ninth parliamentary composition, resulting from the February elections.

Lawmakers refused for the seventeenth time in a row to form a commission to oversee a secret ballot for the new head of the legislative body.

The issue of secret balloting – which was proposed on May 1 by the chair of the session, Avni Dehari, after the Vetëvendosje Movement (LVV)'s nominee for Speaker of the Assembly, Albulena Haxhiu, failed in several votes to receive the 61 votes needed to be confirmed in the post – has been sent to the Constitutional Court of Kosovo by the parties that were in opposition in the previous legislature.

They say that the way LVV is attempting to have the speaker of parliament voted through a secret ballot is unconstitutional, and they have asked the Constitutional Court to take "a temporary measure to prohibit the holding of sessions, until it addresses this matter as a priority and makes a decision."

The Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) and the Serbian List again refused, during the constitutive session on June 2, to propose a representative who would ensure the smooth conduct of the secret ballot.

The constitutive session will continue on Wednesday, June 4th.

So far, MPs have only passed two items on the agenda of the constitutive session: the report of the Temporary Committee for the Verification of Mandates and the oath of MPs.

But the process has stalled at the third point: the election of the speaker of parliament.

Haxhiu of LVV is being considered a divisive figure by two parliamentary parties: PDK and AAK.

These two entities have requested that LVV propose another name for the speaker of parliament. LDK, meanwhile, has said that it has no votes for any of LVV's nominees for the position of speaker of parliament.

The nomination for parliamentary speaker is the exclusive right of the election winner, LVV, which insists that Haxhiu deserves to be elected and, although it has sought a political agreement with other parties, has ruled out the possibility of bringing forward a candidate other than itself.

The deputies must elect the president and five vice presidents to finally constitute the new Assembly.

Only after the constitution of the Assembly can the new Government be formed./REL