Andric Rakic: Whether a president will be elected depends on the opposition’s decision on whether it wants to trigger new elections

Program Manager at the NGO “New Social Initiative” Milica Andric Rakic told Kosovo Online that the decisive factor in whether Albin Kurti’s candidate for president of Kosovo will be elected will be the strategic decision of the opposition – whether it wants to trigger new elections or not.

As she explains, the president of Kosovo can be elected in the final round of voting with 61 votes, but only provided that a quorum of 80 MPs is present in the chamber.

“In that final round of voting, the president of Kosovo can be elected with 61 votes, but a quorum of 80 MPs present in the parliamentary hall is required. If the opposition decides that it wants elections, that elections would bring something better than what already exists, none of Kurti’s candidates will influence that decision. However, it should be emphasized that not all actors in the opposition are equally interested in elections, even if some may be more inclined toward them. For example, the LDK, bearing in mind its poor results and potential leadership changes, may calculate that it is better not to go to elections. Likewise, Ramush Haradinaj may assess that he could somehow remain below the electoral threshold, and that it would therefore be better not to go to elections,” Andric Rakic said.

Further developments, she notes, will depend on whether the opposition can unite around a decision to seek new elections and whether it is ready to take the risks that elections entail. If such a decision does not materialize, Kurti, in her view, will be in an easier position.

“In that sense, I really do not see a risk for Kurti in terms of choosing a candidate. That is, if the opposition is willing to provide a quorum, regardless of which candidate he proposes, that candidate will have those 61 votes in the final round, when only a quorum of 80 MPs is required,” she said.

As she emphasizes, the opposition has no “lever of power” over Kurti that would force him to choose a compromise candidate acceptable to all.

“It is not a matter of the acceptability of the candidate, but rather that the opposition does not really feel it is in a position to go to elections, and in that sense it does not have a lever of power over Kurti to condition him into choosing a compromise candidate, a figure acceptable to everyone. Provided that there is a quorum of 80 MPs, in the end Osmani herself, through her authority, can with Kurti’s 57 votes secure those four additional votes from MPs representing non-majority communities,” Andric Rakic concluded.