There have been no formal meetings within the framework of the ruling coalition between the Self-Determination (LVV) and the LDK parties since Thursday. LVV media communications official, Arlind Manxhuka confirmed for Insajderi that Isa Mustafa and Albin Kurti will not be meeting today. The Progressive Democratic Party chief, Nenad Rasic and the Vice-President of the Council for Inclusive Governance, Shpetim Gashi told KoSSev that they expect negotiations to be finalized soon. They also said that the matter of the presidency issue is likely to be resolved at a later date.
Almost two months of negotiations on the ruling coalition between Self-Determination and the LDK have not yet come to fruition. The negotiations are at a stalemate over the presidency issue. According to the Kosovo electoral system, the president is not elected through direct elections, but in the Kosovo Assembly, which means that the president can be elected through political agreement.
The chief of the Progressive Democratic Party, Nenad Rasic said that he does not expect any surprises at the constituent session of the Kosovo Assembly scheduled on Thursday.
„Speaking about the agreement between LDK and LVV, I think they are very close to finding a solution. This was noticeable yesterday and in the past days, and the interlocutors themselves have repeatedly said that they will reach an agreement,“ Rasic told KoSSev.
He stressed that during the Thursday constituent session – at which the bodies of the Assembly would be formed – it would be important to see whether Vjosa Osmani will receive the necessary support for the post of the Chairman of the Assembly of Kosovo – which will influence the further development of negotiations between the coalition partners.
According to Rasic, although the LDK and the LVV will reach an agreement on the coalition government, it may not be a “comprehensive deal.”
The parties may leave the presidency agreement for a later period when the mandate of the incumbent Kosovo president, Hashim Thaci, expires at the beginning of 2021 – he added.
The Vice-President of the Council for Inclusive Governance, Shpetim Gashi shares Rasic’s belief that coalition partners will not resolve the presidency issue at this time.
„I do not believe that there is the possibility of the LVV promising votes for president to Isa Mustafa, and at the same time, I do not expect Mustafa to accept a coalition without something for himself as part of the deal,“ Gashi said, adding that the LDK did not announce the name of its candidate, although “everyone knows” that Mustafa will take on that role, precisely because Mustafa is “not popular as a presidential candidate even among LDK voters.”
In this situation, a delay in the negotiations can be resolved by either an international factor or the LDK’s decision to accept that the issue will be resolved at a later date – an option that some members of the LDK favor.
Electing a president through direct elections is hardly a viable proposal
When asked whether the proposals made by a part of the Kosovo public, including Koha Ditore’s editor Agron Bajrami, which read that the stumbling block in the coalition negotiations of the two parties – the presidential seat – could be solved by changing the electoral system and electing the Kosovo president in direct elections, are realistic, Rasic replied that a political consensus for something like this existed even earlier.
„This is one of the few systems in which the president is elected this way – with the votes of MPs. Usually, the president is elected through direct elections. And four to five years ago, the process of changing the electoral law was initiated. However, like most things the current president did, it was only done superficially. He then launched consultations with political parties on the election of the president and, as I recall, almost all parties supported the idea of amending the existing law and electing the president directly,“ Rasic told KoSSev, assessing that electing the president directly is “the highest democratic act.”
Gashi, on the other hand, believes that such a proposal would not be accepted by the LDK. According to him, the decisions of the LDK are made by Isa Mustafa, Lutfi Haziri and Agim Veliu. And they could not win the presidential seat through direct elections – he stressed.
„The only way Isa Mustafa gets what he wants – the post of president – is behind-the-scenes deals. He cannot win the presidency through direct elections,“ Gashi told KoSSev.
According to Gashi, a possible formula for delaying the resolution of support for the presidential candidate would be for the LVV to support LDK’s 2021 candidate, but for LDK to propose several candidates from which the LVV would choose one.
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