ASSEMBLY OF SO-CALLED KOSOVO DISSOLVED: Political crisis deepens, early elections to be held once again

Photo: Tanjug/AP

Albin Kurti's Self-Determination party has failed to convince the opposition to jointly elect a new president of so-called Kosovo in the assembly in Pristina, which has created another political and institutional crisis, the way out of which will be sought in early elections!

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"Unfortunately, based on the decision of the Constitutional Court, the Assembly has been dissolved, and elections will be held within the stipulated time," announced the president of the assembly, Albulena Haxhiu.

Four months after the last parliamentary election in Kosovo and Metohija, another will be held because the assembly failed to elect a new president - which was one of the tasks and conditions for the survival of the new government and parliament, installed in February. The Constitutional Court in Pristina gave the new government and the assembly, led by the Self-Determination, a deadline of April 28 at midnight to elect a new president.

After the end of the five-year mandate of Vjosa Osmani, Albin Kurti's party did not manage to garner the support from the opposition for their candidates, so in the next month and a half or two, voters in Kosovo and Metohija will go to the polls again.

The Self-Determination started the procedure of electing a new president but did not have the quorum of two-thirds, or 80 deputies, as required by the rules. With 66 deputies, Albin Kurti's party could not elect a new president and preserve the simple majority in the assembly that guaranteed them some stability.

Boycott of parliamentary sessions

In the last two days, opposition deputies boycotted every parliamentary session and undermined attempts to elect a new president at the last minute. Kurti called the behavior of the opposition "anti-state and anti-institutional", accusing them of deliberately blocking the work of institutions.

He assessed that the opposition has no goal other than to obstruct the government, stressing that its actions represent disrespect for the results of the elections and the citizens' will expressed on December 28. According to Kurti, the boycott of plenary sessions represents clear proof that this was the opposition's approach.

Opposition accuses Kurti

In turn, the opposition said that Kurti does not recognize cooperation, but demands submission from others. They accused Kurti of destroying the constitutional order by starting the process of electing a new president without the presence of opposition deputies.

The tension between the government and the opposition grew in early April, when Vjosa Osmani, after the end of her mandate, handed over her duties to Albulena Haxhiu, the president of the new assembly from the ranks of Self-Determination, which put Kurti in control of the key elements of central government - the government, the parliament, and the presidency.

Institutional crisis started last February

The crisis of institutions in Kosovo and Metohija has been ongoing since February 2025, after elections in which Kurti's party did not gain enough seats in the assembly to form a government on its own.

The process of constituting the new convocation of the assembly lasted for months until Vjosa Osmani called early elections, that were then held  last December. Kurti's movement won 51 percent of Albanian votes and managed to regain power. Two and a half months have passed since that government was formed, and now early elections will once again be organized in Kosovo and Metohija.

(Telegraf.rs/RTS)