Acting Prime Minister and leader of the Vetëvendosje Movement, Albin Kurti, has stated that he is trying to secure the necessary numbers to form a new government.
Five days before the deadline for the vote on the new government in the Assembly, Kurti, speaking to fellow citizens in London, said that during the remaining days he is in discussions to form the government. However, he added that “it is not easy, as the atmosphere is tense and there is a lot of jealousy and anger.” According to him, the alternative remains early elections, since neither the former opposition has the will nor the intention to form an alternative government.
Kurti was mandated as prime minister by President Vjosa Osmani on October 11. So far, he has not publicly disclosed any of his efforts to form the new government.
The acting prime minister is staying in London to participate in the Berlin Process summit, scheduled for October 22 in the British capital.
“We will prepare as much as possible until Sunday at the latest, but on Monday, we cannot. On Monday, either we have formed the government or we have not. Therefore, during these remaining days, we are communicating and discussing. It is not easy, as I don’t know how to explain it — you can feel that the atmosphere is very tense. There is more jealousy, anger, and cynicism than ideas, work, and passion. We are where we are, and we will try to form the government; otherwise, it seems the alternative is that we will go to elections again. Either we form the government, or we go to elections. It does not appear that the opposition has the will or intention for an alternative government,” he said in a video published by Albanian journalist Ermal Hallaçi in the United Kingdom.
Vetëvendosje, as the leading party in the February 9 elections, together with coalition partners Guxo and Alternativa, holds 48 seats. So far, they have the public support of eight non-majority community deputies, bringing the total to 56 deputies.
Earlier, Vetëvendosje held discussions with the Social Democratic Initiative (Nisma) to form a governing coalition, but no agreement was reached.
Kurti revealed during the meeting with the diaspora that he had offered Nisma a joint governance arrangement. He said he was willing to give the party, which has three deputies, the deputy speaker position, one ministry, and two deputy minister posts.
“I was ready to give Nisma, with their three deputies, a minister, the deputy speaker of the Assembly — if Albulena Haxhiu became the Assembly Speaker, Fatmir Limaj would have been deputy speaker, because the speaker and deputy must be of different genders. Imagine a situation where Haxhiu becomes Speaker, Limaj becomes deputy speaker even though he had five times fewer votes than Haxhiu, and they would also receive a ministry and two deputy ministers,” Kurti said.
During the discussion with citizens in London, one person told Kurti that he has a “stubborn head,” noting that in the first week he could have formed a coalition with Nisma.
“Prime Minister, you have a stubborn head, because in the first week you could have formed a coalition with Nisma,” he said.
KosovaPress communicated with Nisma officials on Tuesday, who confirmed that, so far, there have been no discussions with Vetëvendosje regarding a governing coalition.
The new Kosovo Assembly was constituted on October 10, with the election of Nenad Rashiq as deputy speaker from the Serbian community. His election came after all nine deputies from the Serbian List, despite three voting attempts, failed to secure the necessary votes.
However, the Serbian List filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court on October 16, claiming that the election of Nenad Rashiq as deputy speaker violated the Constitution, the Assembly Rules of Procedure, and a previous Constitutional Court decision.
