Thewesternbalkans.
Almost seven months after parliamentary elections and an equally long political crisis, Kosovo has elected a new speaker of parliament – Dimal Basha, an MP from Albina Kurti’s Self-Determination movement.
According to local media, at the record 57th session, 73 MPs supported Basha’s candidacy, while 30 voted against it.
The new speaker was also supported by the Democratic Party of Kosovo (DPK), founded by former President Hashim Thaci, who is on trial in The Hague. Even before the vote, the PDK announced its readiness to support this candidate from the Self-Determination movement, despite the fact that it does not consider him competent.
Basha was the fifth proposal of Self-Determination for the post of Speaker of the Assembly of the so-called Kosovo.
Who is Dimal Basha?
Dimal Basha was born on October 12, 1979 in Pristina and lives in the city of Ferizaj (Ferizovo), southeast Kosovo, according to his biography, published on the official website of the Self-Determination Movement.
He completed his higher education at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. There he graduated with the highest honors in international criminal law.
He completed his master’s degree in international relations with a focus on conflict and security at The New School University in New York.
Dimal Basha has worked in the office of former US Congressman Eliot Engle, as well as as a qualitative data analyst in the US Federal Court. He has also had a successful managerial career in the US and England. He obtained U.S. citizenship after moving to the United States in 2007.
Basha has served three terms as a Member of the Kosovo Assembly, sitting on several parliamentary committees, including the committee on foreign affairs, the committee for the oversight of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency, the legislative committee, and the committee on stabilization and association.
Comment: Dimal Basha is known for his opposition to the establishment of the Community of Serb Municipalities (CSM) and his support for government actions in northern Kosovo, as well as for his criticism of KFOR and the European Union. According to him, the Kosovo Security Force (KSF) would “resolve the problem in the North more quickly than KFOR.”
Although a public supporter of the United States, Basha was an opponent of President Trump’s first administration. In one interview, he stated that Richard Grenell, then U.S. Special Envoy for the Kosovo–Serbia Dialogue, did not represent American values. “Grenell needed a quick agreement, because he is Trump’s servant. I do not think he represents America’s values, because Trump speaks of reciprocity and equality among citizens,” Basha said.
This is not the end of the political crisis in Kosovo. A more difficult political act is ahead – the election of a new government. Since Self-Determination cannot form a government on its own, it will probably have to make concessions to the PDK in return for agreeing to support the candidate for speaker of parliament.
