The session to constitute the Kosovo Assembly fails for the 21st time

The deputies of the Kosovo Assembly failed on Sunday - for the 21st time in a row - to constitute the ninth parliamentary composition, resulting from the February elections.

The failure to form a new Parliament has plunged the country into a political impasse, leaving it without a new government, more than three months after the elections.

Successive failures are occurring despite calls from within and outside the country to move forward with the creation of institutions.

On Sunday, lawmakers refused for the thirteenth 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 continuation of the constitutive session on Sunday, to propose a representative who would ensure the smooth conduct of the secret ballot.

The constitutive session will continue on Tuesday, May 27.

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.

On May 15, after a meeting called by the President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, with representatives of political parties, Osmani said that there was no agreement on the constitution of the Assembly, but added that he had seen a "minimal willingness" among party leaders to find a solution to this issue.

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.

This crisis comes after no party won the majority to govern alone and there is a lack of agreement between them to create a joint majority.

Vetëvendosje came first, winning 48 seats, 13 short of the minimum 61 needed to form a new government on its own. PDK came second with 24 seats, LDK third with 20, AAK-Nisma 8 and Lista Srpska 9.

Kurti said on May 20 that during the government formation process, he would be ready for compromises and concessions.

Kurti mentioned minorities as possible partners, as well as Fatmir Limaj's Social Democratic Initiative.

During the week, the European Union's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas – who visited Pristina for the first time on Thursday – called on parliamentary parties to cooperate to unblock the political deadlock in the country.

Likewise, several  civil society organizations in the country called on the parties to "reach an agreement that ends the blockade."

They said that the institutional crisis with the blocking of the constitution of the Assembly "has crossed every tolerable limit and is damaging not only the Assembly, but also the functioning of the entire democratic and institutional system of the country."/REL