VOA: The new early parliamentary elections are already part of the discussions of the political parties in Kosovo

The Democratic Party of Kosovo on Monday asked parliamentary political parties for support for a motion to dissolve the Kosovo parliament next week, as a way to lead the country to early elections.

 "You know that we alone as a parliamentary group do not have that power in the Assembly of Kosovo, we have continuously said all the damages and consequences that we are suffering today as citizens of this country and as a state due to extremely weak governance and degrading and it is good that together we finalize this agreement or this common language that we had as the opposition with a session which would be held next week", said the head of the parliamentary group of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, Abelard Tahiri.

The motion can be raised with the signatures of 40 deputies, while 80 votes are needed in the 120-seat parliament. If the deputies agree on the dissolution of the parliament, then the president must announce early elections, which must be held no later than 45 days after their announcement.

The Democratic Party said that the dissolution of the parliament before May 30 would allow the elections to be held at the end of June or the beginning of July.

The initiative of the Democratic Party followed a meeting last week between the chairman of this party, Memli Krasniqi, and Prime Minister Albin Kurti, in which the new elections were also discussed.

The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, said after that meeting that he is ready to open discussions with the opposition parties in the country to announce new parliamentary elections.

The head of the parliamentary group of the Vetëvendosje movement in power, Mimoza Kusari Lila, said today that her subject is ready to support the dissolution of the parliament if it is supported by all opposition parties.

"However, we cannot do this with only an opposition parliamentary group. The opposition must be unified in its request, in the end it is the opposition that demands elections or a change of government, while we consider that this government has fulfilled all the conditions for a full and regular mandate", said Kusari Lila.

The mandate of the current government ends at the beginning of 2025.

The opposition Democratic League of Kosovo has demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Albin Kurti as a condition for the dissolution of the parliament.

The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo said today that the dissolution of the parliament at this stage means a way out for the government of Albin Kurti.

"Some form of taking the blame from the Assembly for the government's failure. So the dissolution should come only when we manage to dismiss a harmful government, only when it resigns and with a statement or verbally that it will withdraw, but not in any situation that the Assembly of Kosovo takes a responsibility that does not belong to it". said the head of the parliamentary group of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, Besnik Tahiri.

But, observers say, the resignation does not automatically mean new elections because without a prior agreement the country's president would be forced to give the ruling party a new opportunity to form a new government.

However, new elections have already become part of the discussions and many independent analysts claim that they will be held in early summer or autumn, but before the presidential elections in the United States.

The Democratic Party said on Monday that the failure of Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe and the deterioration of relations with Western allies are an additional argument to lead the country to new elections.

Last week, Kosovo was not put on the agenda for membership in the Council of Europe, as some of the member states reiterated that a condition for Kosovo's progress is to take steps to establish the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority./VOA