On Friday, the President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, issued a decree to dissolve the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, following the failure of MPs to elect a new president within the constitutional deadline.
At a press conference that started almost an hour late, Osmani refused to take questions from journalists, saying she would respond later in the afternoon.
According to her, the failure to elect a new president by midnight on March 5 pushed the country toward new elections, emphasizing that the decision was a constitutional obligation.
“I am here before you because the representatives of the people last night decided to send the country to new elections. This situation was completely avoidable. It is a great misfortune for this state that they did not choose the interest of the Republic of Kosovo. Therefore, today, in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, I have issued the decree to dissolve the Assembly, and through this decree, I am fulfilling the clearly defined constitutional obligation. In a constitutional republic, something exists above party calculations and momentary interests—the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo. The Constitution is not a ceremonial text; it is our common contract as a state, the limit politics cannot cross, and the compass that institutions cannot lose. Last night, the efforts to elect a new president failed. This failure was neither accidental nor thoughtless but very well calculated and planned, unfortunately,” Osmani said.
Osmani stated that the country was brought to this point by irresponsible people with dangerous intentions.
“In these circumstances, the language of the Constitution is mandatory. Article 82 does not say that the president may be elected 30 days before the deadline; it says: the president must be elected 30 days before the end of the current president’s mandate. This is not discretionary authority; it is a constitutional duty. For this reason, in accordance with Articles 82 and 86 of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, I have decided to dissolve the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo and to announce new elections after consultations I will hold with political parties. Naturally, citizens did not want elections; this situation was created by the Assembly’s failure to fulfill its constitutional duty. No one should have desired another political cycle, especially at a time when the country needs stability. But the country was brought here by irresponsible people with dangerous intentions. Alternative delays would have created much more dangerous situations, an endless stalled process, as we saw throughout 2025, and a state that starts to relativize even its own constitution,” Osmani emphasized.
Osmani said the only question now is the date of the new elections.
“Therefore, the question that should be asked is not whether there will be elections. The only question is how successful some will be in delaying them. The only question is the election date. Citizens do not need further delays. They need their voice to be heard clearly. They also need clarity. They need functioning institutions, not ones serving delay. They need politics that is not afraid of responsibility,” Osmani said.
The President stressed that, according to the Constitution, a new president must be elected no later than 30 days before the end of the current president’s mandate, which in her case ends on April 4, 2026.
“Article 86 of the Constitution stipulates that the new president must be elected no later than 30 days before the end of the current president’s mandate. My mandate ends on April 4, 2026, which means March 5 was the last constitutional deadline for the Assembly to elect a new president. This deadline expired last night at midnight. So, this is not a political debate; it is a clear constitutional fact. The Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo failed to fulfill one of its fundamental constitutional obligations. The Constitution is not written for interpretations that relativize its weight; it is written to guarantee the functioning of the state, not delay and dysfunction. The Constitution is also clear about the consequences when the Assembly fails to fulfill its duties. It clearly provides that an Assembly that does not elect a president cannot indefinitely delay the process, as is being attempted. Instead, it faces a clear constitutional mechanism that leads to its dissolution… Therefore, the final deadline was clear, it was last night at midnight, and the president cannot hold elections after this moment,” Osmani emphasized.
Osmani added that MPs had 23 days to fulfill this duty but chose not to.
“Assembly deputies had 23 days to fulfill this constitutional duty from the moment it was determined. They chose not to do it, and this is the institutional reality we face today. The fact that the Assembly chose not to use the days it had does not change our Constitution. It does not extend the deadline and, above all, does not remove my clear constitutional obligation to dissolve this Assembly that failed. The Constitution does not operate on political convenience; it operates on institutional responsibility. No request for a provisional measure at the Constitutional Court automatically suspends the constitutional deadline. Only a Court decision could do that. And such a Court decision does not exist at this moment. Therefore, today we do not have an open interpretive situation; we have a situation where the constitutional deadline has already expired,” she added.
Osmani stressed that the case submitted to the Constitutional Court by Vetëvendosje Movement does not constitute an obstacle to dissolving the Assembly.
She also added that not issuing this decree would have placed her in clear violation of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo.
“The case submitted to the Constitutional Court by Vetëvendosje does not constitute an obstacle to issuing the decree and dissolving the Assembly, as long as the court has not issued a suspension measure… I call on the Constitutional Court to urgently handle any issues that may arise in the future, knowing how important constitutional clarity is, without allowing delaying intentions to dominate Kosovo’s interest, and without letting any pressure change the interpretation only according to the Constitution of Kosovo. As President of Kosovo, I have never interfered, nor will I interfere, and I will defend every independent institution from interventions that may attempt to change a decision interpreting the Constitution. Even if someone sends this decree to the Constitutional Court, I will clearly defend this act, defend this decree which is an obligation. Not issuing this decree would place me in clear violation of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo. And I have no intention of doing that,” she said.
