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In an unprecedented move, the entire opposition bloc of the Albanian majority in Kosovo has reached an agreement to establish institutions based on the early general elections on June 8, and force the winning PDK party of ongoing "Prime Minister" Hashim Thaqi into opposition.
Vetvendosje (Self-determination) party signed on Wednesday a "Principle Agreement" with the opposition bloc early formed between LDK-AAK-Nisma. All together they have 63 seats in the 120- seated assembly (LDK/30, AAK/11, NISMA/6 and Vetvendosje/16), more than enough to elect the speaker of the assembly and the authority, though they have also the support of 20 MPs from minority communities.
"We made today a significant step forward by signing an agreement on principles for forming future institutions and governance policies," stated after the meeting Ramush Haradinaj, the leader of AAK and the designated "Prime Minister" from the opposition bloc.
By signing the agreement both parties agreed to let Vetvendosje lead the process of the dialogue with Serbia, which was a most sensitive issue, since western partners warned Kosovo institutions that the dialogue should continue but Vetvendosje never supported it. The deal also includes an assessment on all agreements reached so far in the EU-facilitated dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade.
Former ruling party PDK is alone and with no chance to form the authority, even though they got 36 seats in the elections, emerging as the first voted party. However, the Constitutional Court ruled in August that PDK is the biggest caucus emerging from the elections, so it has the right to nominate the speaker of the assembly. If PDK insists on this they could block the constitutive session of the assembly called for on Friday, Sept. 12.
Due to polarities over the right over the election of the speaker, the constitutive session failed on July 17 and became a subject of the constitutional court.
EU Special Representative in Kosovo, Samuel Zbogar and Heads of Mission of EU Member States in Kosovo reiterated their hope that "an authority will be formed soon in order to address the many challenges that Kosovo faces, such as economic governance, raising standard of living, improving the rule of law, pursuing the European agenda and continuing normalization of relations with Serbia."
"In this context, we reiterate the great importance of a constructive and result-oriented continuation of the EU-facilitated dialogue at the political and technical levels, leading to a comprehensive normalization of relations with Serbia, " EU diplomats said in a press statement.
