Gudzic: The West could decide on Kosovo’s new prime minister-designate and the speaker of parliament

Analyst Aleksandar Gudzic stated that the West could exert pressure to constitute the parliament and form a new Kosovo government, as there have been similar cases in the past.

“The history of multiparty parliamentarism in Kosovo since 1999 has shown that representatives of Western European and American embassies have, in the past, appointed candidates and officials to Kosovo institutions. So, it is neither unusual nor impossible that the foreign factor, the one that has heavily invested in promoting Kosovo’s statehood, ends up deciding who will be the speaker of parliament, the prime minister, or a minister,” Gudzic told Kosovo Online.

According to him, Kosovo is currently in a political crisis that he claims is the result of “Albin Kurti’s irresponsible policies, both toward the Serbian community and toward other political parties in Kosovo.”

“The practice and results of post-election negotiations show that Albin Kurti lacks coalition potential, and it is clear that his tactic and intention are to stall and then, when it suits him, call for repeated elections. In my opinion, that could happen this summer, when the diaspora arrives. Kurti enjoys strong support from the Albanian diaspora, but it is also possible that joint parliamentary and local elections could be held in the fall. That is one of two possible scenarios,” Gudzic said.

Commenting on the recent claim by Duda Balje, an MP from the Bosniak community, that she was offered a professorship in Skopje in exchange for her vote in parliament, the analyst said that political practice has shown that vote-buying attempts are possible, but he hopes it won’t happen.

“I want to believe that this won’t happen. The political practice in post-communist states and systems that emerged after the breakup of Yugoslavia has shown that party-switching by MPs is not uncommon, and that such things are possible, but I don’t want to believe that it will come to that,” Gudzic concluded.