The constitution of the Kosovo Assembly fails for the 41st time

For the 41st time in a row, the Kosovo Assembly has failed to be constituted.

The session again lasted only a few minutes and its leader, Avni Dehari, invited the deputies to reconvene in 48 hours, on Saturday, July 5.

The session called to elect the Speaker of the Assembly and continue with the other steps of the constitution was not successful, due to the lack of agreement between political parties regarding the formation of a commission for a secret ballot of the candidate for Speaker of the Assembly, Albulena Haxhiu.

For a long time, the largest parties have opposed Vetëvendosje's proposal that Haxhiu, currently the acting Minister of Justice, be elected as the head of the Assembly.

They have described Haxhiu as a non-unifying figure and have asked Vetëvendosje, as the winner of the elections, to propose another name.

Despite this, Vetëvendosje has refused to make a change, saying that proposing the name of the mayor is the exclusive right of the election winner.

Four months after the February 9 elections, Kosovo continues to function without new institutions, while the 30-day constitutional deadline for the constitution of the Assembly, reinterpreted by the Constitutional Court, is nearing its end.

A group of members of civil society organizations protested in front of the Kosovo Assembly, in protest of the political impasse.

Lawyer Arianit Koci, who has been protesting in front of the Parliament for several weeks, also brought donkeys with him as a sign of protest, which he said symbolizes the stubbornness that, according to him, the deputies are showing.

President Vjosa Osmani has held several meetings with political leaders to find a solution, but her efforts have not yet produced an agreement to unblock the process.

The June 28 meeting between political leaders, called by the acting prime minister and leader of Vetëvendosje, Albin Kurti, also yielded no results.

Legal experts warn that if the Assembly fails to be constituted within the specified deadline, the way could be opened for an even deeper constitutional and political crisis./ REL