Kosovo’s parliament failed to elect a president by the deadline of midnight 28 April, leaving the country facing a new election within 45 days. It will be the third election in about 14 months, local service Radio Liberty reported.
“This session marks the end of this legislative assembly,” Parliament Speaker Albulena Hadjiu told lawmakers.
Members of the parliamentary majority have been trying to elect a new president since the evening of 27 April, but opposition parties boycotted the session after talks with Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s ruling Self-Determination Party (LVV) failed and no agreement was reached on a president. Opposition parties rejected Kurti’s proposals, saying the LVV should not control the government, parliament and presidency.
General elections just over a year ago left the Kurti without the majority needed to form a government, leading to months of a parliamentary blockade. Lawmakers eventually secured early elections in December, which the Kurti party won with more than 51 per cent of the vote. It won 57 seats in the 120-seat parliament, not enough to govern on its own.
Under the constitution, Kosovo’s president is elected by a two-thirds majority in the first two rounds or 61 votes in the third round, but 80 deputies are required to sit in the chamber.
The electoral process is likely to delay negotiations with Serbia, which has never recognised Kosovo’s independence declared in 2008, a key criterion for both countries’ ambitions to join the European Union.