It is still uncertain whether the Pristina parliament will be dissolved on August 22, which would allow early elections to be called, claim Danas’s interlocutors from Kosovo.
Some sources of daily Danas unofficially state that it should be seen whether two-thirds of MPs will vote to dissolve the parliament, and that Kosovo’s President Hashim Thaci still can avoid going to the polls.
Milica Andric-Rakic, a journalist of KoSSev portal, told Danas that the session has not yet been called, and the date of the session indicates that all parties, despite statements that the elections must be held as soon as possible, “they are not really in a rush to the polls and are ready for new delays in resolving the political situation after the resignation of Kosovo’s prime minister.”
– Although most parties declaratively want to call elections, the initiative to convene a session to dissolve the assembly came not from them, but from the speaker of the Kosovo Parliament and leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, Kadri Veseli. According to the constitutional authority, the Kosovo president may propose two mandates for the formation of a new government, which means that the scenario of forming a new government in the same assembly, i.e. avoiding elections, is not yet possible, says Rakic.
Andric-Rakic notes that Thaci sought the name of a new mandate from the ruling coalition – the PAN or the “war coalition” so far, but this coalition said it had no proposal for a candidate.
“However, under Article 95 of the Kosovo Constitution, Thaci can propose another mandate and only if that person does not get the support of the assembly, elections become the only possible option,” KoSSev journalist explains, recalling that “to form a new government in the same parliamentary assembly a simple majority is required, i.e. 61 deputies vote; while a two-thirds majority i.e. 80 deputies’ votes are required to dissolve the assembly.”
On the other hand, Belul Beqaj, a political analyst from Pristina, notes for Danas that the Kosovo president “has a downward trajectory”.
– Thaci is losing importance and political weight. The dissolution of parliament and new elections will accelerate his “downward trajectory,” Beqaj believes.
