Professor of political science, Dritëro Arifi, believes that by the end of this year or the beginning of next year, the country will head toward extraordinary parliamentary elections, since none of the political parties has the necessary numbers to form the new government, reports KosovaPress.

On Wednesday, the constitutive session of the Assembly of Kosovo continued following the ruling of the Constitutional Court, which set a 30-day deadline for the formation of the ninth legislature.

In yesterday’s session, the two candidates proposed by Vetëvendosje for Speaker of the Assembly—Albulena Haxhiu and Donika Gërvalla—failed to secure 61 votes to be elected to this position.

On this matter, professor of political science Dritëro Arifi told KosovaPress that what is lacking is seriousness and willingness from political parties to establish the new institutions.

“Unfortunately, we are living in an era of primitive populism. Democracy is not an act, it is a process. We are not seeing a process of dialogue and cooperation with other parties. You don’t just go to the Assembly and say ‘this is the name.’ This means that they neither understand nor want to understand what a democratic system is, which is always in motion, with engagements to achieve a specific goal. It is clear that they want to get things done with just one act. Both the other parties and Vetëvendosje, unfortunately, seem to have the same mentality, but in this case the mentality of Vetëvendosje leaves much to be desired in the way it wants to establish the Assembly and elect the Speaker. I don’t see seriousness—I don’t understand why. I think, had there been will and desire, Vetëvendosje would already have had the Kurti 3 government by February 10,” Arifi emphasized.

Arifi stresses that the name proposed no longer matters, because, as he says, “the way in which the Assembly of Kosovo is being built leaves much to be desired.”

“The name is not important. What matters is the process and how it is built. The way the Assembly of Kosovo is being built leaves much to be desired. So, I don’t expect success, and even if tomorrow any of Vetëvendosje’s candidates is voted in, I don’t see any particular success in building the Assembly and its quality of work whenever it happens,” declared the political analyst.

Political analyst Dritëro Arifi does not rule out the possibility that within the 30-day deadline given by the Constitutional Court, the Assembly could be constituted.

He assesses that in the absence of willingness from political actors to form the government, the country is very likely heading toward elections.

“By all indications, we are heading toward elections, because it is clear that there is no will to form the government. The issue is no longer with the Assembly, because even if the Assembly is formed, it is evident that neither side has the numbers for the government. And therefore, they are trying to delay things as much as possible so that elections could be held sometime in November or December if possible, or next year. In any case, the state will be blocked. We are forgetting that the budget also has to be voted on in December, and without an Assembly… I see more of a parody, a comedy that is once again a political mockery of constitutional obligations. That’s how I have been viewing this entire story since February 9,” said Arifi.

After three weeks, on Wednesday, the elected deputies gathered for the continuation of the constitutive session. In yesterday’s session, as required by the Constitutional Court ruling on the political deadlock, the voting for the Speaker was done openly. Vetëvendosje proposed Albulena Haxhiu and Donika Gërvalla, but neither received the 61 votes needed to be elected the new Speaker of the Assembly.

After two failed attempts, the presiding officer of the constitutive session, Avni Dehari, adjourned the session, which will continue on Friday at 11:00 a.m.

On Monday, the Constitutional Court published its ruling on the political deadlock, a decision that sets a 30-day deadline for the constitution of the Assembly of Kosovo. According to this ruling, a candidate cannot be voted for more than three times. Kosovo held extraordinary parliamentary elections on February 9 of this year.