Headlines-23012016

Opposition to protest on 17 February (dailies)

The leaders of the three opposition parties in Kosovo through a press conference announced that the next protest against the government will be held on the eighth anniversary of Kosovo’s independence, 17 February. According to them, “17 February is the best date to bring messages that the citizens of Kosovo are unhappy and their expectations for an independent state have not been met.” On the other hand, setting this date for protest has been criticized by representatives of the ruling coalition. According to them, it is not fair to protest on holidays, as they believe that in this way the holidays are falling in the shadow of violence. It was announced the protest will begin at 14:00hrs.

Derguti: President to be elected after new elections (Epoka e Re)

Kosovo Assembly Deputy Speaker from Vetevendosje Movement, Aida Derguti, told the paper there will be no normal work in the Assembly until the resignation of the Government. According to her, the meeting of the Assembly Presidency held on Friday was meaningless. “The only way out of the current crisis is the resignation of the government. The only thing that we can discuss now is to set the date for early elections. Kosovo President should be elected after elections,” Derguti said.

President can be voted in the alternative hall (Zeri)

Kosovo President's election is likely to be more problematic than how the coalition partners thought when they signed the agreement, Zeri reports. The best scenario is if the ruling-coalition candidate Hashim Thaci is elected President in an alternative Assembly hall, as the opposition has announced that they will try to block any attempt to vote for the President.  The PDK officials said they hope the Assembly’s security will provide favorable conditions for the voting day which is expected to be soon.