Gogic: Setting the date of new elections may fall to Albulena Haxhiu

Political scientist Ognjen Gogic says that if a new President of Kosovo is not elected by the end of Vjosa Osmani’s mandate, the acting president will become the Speaker of the Assembly, Albulena Haxhiu, and that she will be responsible for setting the date of new elections if a president is not elected in parliament within the deadline set by the Constitutional Court.

Haxhiu, as acting President of Kosovo, will perform the powers that the president normally has under the Constitution, Gogic explains.

“The President of Kosovo is generally a ceremonial or protocol position. The president has certain powers within Kosovo’s legal system, signs laws, makes certain appointments, but those powers are limited. If Haxhiu becomes acting president, she will exercise all those powers that a president with a full mandate has, but for a shorter period, since an acting president can hold that position for a maximum of six months,” Gogic told Kosovo Online.

Commenting on the fact that with Haxhiu as acting president, the three most important political positions would be in the hands of Self-Determination, Gogic says a similar situation existed in previous years when all three positions were held by one political list.

“That was Self-Determination. Albin Kurti was prime minister, Vjosa Osmani was president of Kosovo, and Glauk Konjufca was speaker of parliament. They were all from that coalition. That proved to be a very favorable situation, because when it came to setting the election date at the end of December, it became evident that they were part of one coalition, as Osmani enabled Albin Kurti to schedule elections at a date that suited him best, December 28,” he said.

Gogic notes that the mandate of acting President of Kosovo held by Vjosa Osmani in 2020 was marked by the calling of early parliamentary elections and the campaign for them, in which she also participated, and that a similar scenario could await Albulena Haxhiu if she takes that position.

“Osmani was in the position of acting president for a relatively short time because less than two months later the Constitutional Court determined that the government led at the time by Avdullah Hoti had not been elected with a sufficient number of votes from MPs, effectively establishing the fall of that government and triggering new elections. Osmani very quickly, after taking that position, called new parliamentary elections and participated in them by leading the Self-Determination list and the coalition gathered around it,” he said.

At that time, he adds, Osmani was leaving her previous party, the Democratic League of Kosovo, dissatisfied with its policies and with its withdrawal from the coalition with Kurti.

“She did not have the political power she has today. She found herself in the position of acting president more in a technical sense and did not exceed her constitutional powers and authority. She adhered to the letter of the Constitution, but it was a short period. She quickly dissolved the Assembly and entered the election campaign,” Gogic emphasized.

Vjosa Osmani’s five-year mandate as President of Kosovo ends tomorrow.