Thewesternbalkans.
More than two months after the February parliamentary elections, Kosovo is mired in an institutional crisis as parties fail to find a solution to unblock the election of the parliament’s speaker.
The Kosovo parliament’s constitutive session, which began on 15 April 2025, has been suspended for the ninth time: on 1 May, another constitutive session of the Kosovo parliament was held, with the leader of the Self-Determination Movement (Vetevendosje), Albin Kurti, proposing a secret ballot this time, which was rejected by the opposition. Vetevendosje continued to insist that Albulena Haxhiu, the acting justice minister, be elected as parliament speaker, forcing the parliament to reconvene every 48 hours without progress. Albulena Haxhiu failed to secure the minimum of 61 votes, as opposition parties refused to support her candidacy and maintained their firm opposition to her election. The next session of parliament is scheduled for May 3.
Commentary: For Kosovars, the situation is familiar as a scenario from the political stalemates of 2014 and 2017.
Without a parliament constituted, Kosovo cannot find a way to form a new government. Instead, the country faces yet another institutional blockade, deepening political instability. Rather than allow the opposition to form a government, Vetevendosje prefers to go back to elections which if this isn’t resolved could happen as early as June.
Once again, a flawed constitutional precedent – giving priority to the largest party to propose a speaker of parliament, even without securing a majority – has caused political chaos. Legal experts point to the limitations imposed by the 2014 Constitutional Court ruling. The constitution requires that the speaker of parliament be elected by a majority of the members of parliament. But the 2014 ruling by the majority of judges of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo granted the exclusive right to nominate the speaker of parliament to the party that won the most votes in the elections, even if it does not have a parliamentary majority.
This has allowed for a narrow interpretation of the constitution that has paralyzed the institutions. This narrow, dysfunctional interpretation has paved the way for successive political crises, in which parties, even without securing a majority, have insisted on their right to nominate a speaker based on the 2014 ruling – as Vetevendosje is doing now.
The impasse raises concerns about the functioning of Kosovo’s institutions more broadly. The opposition has expressed its willingness to participate in consultations if invited by the president, although the Osmani administration has not yet signaled any initiative.
