Surlic: Kurti is not in favor of a swift government formation, many mechanisms for obstruction

Assistant professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade, Stefan Surlic, states that Albin Kurti and the Self-Determination Movement have numerous mechanisms to obstruct the swift formation of Kosovo's new government, which is the most favorable scenario for them at this moment.

"I don’t think a technical government scenario until March 2026 is realistic, but it is clear that Albin Kurti and the Self-Determination are not in favor of a quick government formation. They have many mechanisms to obstruct the swift and efficient establishment of a majority coalition and government formation. This is primarily based on the 2014 Constitutional Court ruling, which states that the Speaker of the Assembly must first be elected before the president can nominate a candidate from the party that won the most votes," Surlic told Kosovo Online.

As potential obstruction methods, he points to past experiences where the convening of the constitutive session or the election of the Speaker of the Assembly was deliberately blocked.

"According to the Constitutional Court's decision, as long as the Assembly is not constituted and a Speaker is not elected, the president cannot nominate a candidate to form a government," Surlic emphasizes.

He believes that Self-Determination can use this tactic to delay the post-election process for several months at most.

"I wouldn’t say they can stretch it out for a year, but they can certainly delay the process for several months. However, the question is how long this tactic will work in their favor, whether dragging out the process might trigger a negative reaction among their own voters and lead to a much worse result in potential repeat elections," Surlic explains.

He describes the current situation in Kosovo as a "political stalemate." The decisive factor, he notes, could be the Serb List, but such a coalition would be the least favorable option for Self-Determination.

"Right now, there is a deadlock between Self-Determination and the opposition parties, which have informally united under an 'anti-Kurti' front. However, reaching an agreement on forming a government is difficult. Based on the final election results announced by the electoral commission, it is evident that Self-Determination does not have enough votes without the Serb List. There is a possibility of forming a narrow majority with Nisma and other non-majority communities, but that is not an appealing option for Kurti," Surlic argues.

He explains that a minority government is not in Self-Determination’s or Kurti’s interest because such a scenario makes it harder to implement their policies, while smaller coalition partners gain significant leverage.

"Kurti is well aware that he cannot effectively implement his policies with a razor-thin majority in parliament and that these small coalition partners would have significant blackmailing potential. Therefore, delaying the process until repeat elections is the ideal scenario for him," Surlic concludes.