The main political parties in Kosovo have not yet made any moves towards reaching a possible agreement on the election of the country's new president, despite the fact that the one-month deadline set by the country's highest court on this issue has been running for a week.
Last week, the Constitutional Court gave lawmakers 34 days to elect a head of state, otherwise the country will go to early elections, which must be held within 45 days.
The current president, Vjosa Osmani, ends her term on April 4th and lawmakers now have until April 28th to appoint her successor.
However, since the ruling on this deadline was issued, seven days have passed, and no action towards finding a solution or reaching an agreement for the president has been seen in public.
Radio Free Europe (RFE/RL) sources within the two largest opposition parties, the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), confirmed that they have not yet received an invitation for a meeting from Prime Minister Albin Kurti, the leader of the ruling party, the Vetëvendosje Movement.
PDK said that they are organizing a meeting of the Steering Council and that this body "will determine the party's official positions in relation to political developments in the country."
"After this internal process, PDK will come out with a clear and unified position on the next steps," said an official from this party.
Two days ago, Prime Minister Kurti announced that he would send invitations to political party leaders, but did not indicate when.
He added that he would do so after "internal consultations," without giving further details.
"As important as it is to address it urgently, it is also important to have success. Because, ultimately, we will not be measured by the efforts we make, but by the success we achieve," Kurti stressed on March 30.
Political scientist Dritëro Arifi estimates for REL that the Vetëvendosje Movement should withdraw the two proposed candidates for president, Glauk Konjufca and Fatmire Mullhaxha-Kollçaku, to create space for discussions with other parties.
"The essence is whether they will send preliminary signals, as I said with the departure of those candidates. They should technically 'resign', which creates space for more serious negotiations," Arifi emphasizes, adding that this way the discussions could take place in a spirit of compromise.
The election of a new president failed at the beginning of last month precisely due to the lack of an agreement between the parties.
Glauk Konjufca and Fatmire Kollçaku-Mullhaxha did not participate in the vote due to the lack of a quorum.
The President of Kosovo is elected with two-thirds of the votes in the first two rounds or with 61 votes in the third round, but 80 deputies are needed in the chamber for the session to be held.
Vetëvendosje Movement MP Artan Abrashi said on Wednesday that the issue of electing the president depends on the meetings that will take place.
According to him, Vetëvendosje has the "willingness and readiness" to find a compromise.
"I hope that (representatives of the opposition parties) will reflect positively and that Kosovo will overcome this unnecessary crisis, which risks leading us to elections, again I say unnecessary," Abrashi told the "EkonomiaOnline" news agency.
After the publication of the Constitutional Court's verdict, the leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo, Lumir Abdixhiku, said that the main responsibility for the president's issue remains with the parliamentary majority.
"LDK remains ready to contribute to any serious effort for a solution that guarantees stability and normal functioning of institutions. But, at the same time, it will not become an alibi for anyone's failures," he said.
If the new president is not elected by April 4, then the Speaker of the Parliament, Albulena Haxhiu, will assume the role of president.
According to the Constitution, the position of acting president cannot be held for a period longer than six months.
Political scientist Arifi sees Haxhiu's assumption of office as one of the reasons why the Vetëvendosje Movement is postponing the start of discussions with opposition parties on electing the president.
According to him, although all political parties declare that they are ready for elections, the timing of their holding may be more suitable for one party than for the other.
"I think that in this case the ruling party is playing with the time element in order to create pressure but perhaps also another delay in setting the date for the extraordinary elections," he said.
