Kasapolli: Kurti aware he lacks a majority, sees opportunity in new elections this fall

Political analyst Gezim Kasapolli stated that Albin Kurti is aware he does not have the majority needed to form a new government, which is why he is blocking the process of constituting the parliament in order to align early parliamentary elections with the local elections scheduled for the fall.

"Kurti is blocking this process because he knows he doesn’t have the votes for a government. In this first step, together with Albulena Haxhiu, he is blocking the process in order to see what comes next and to, according to his plan, stall until the local elections. He sees that he is slowly losing his majority and wants to capitalize on it with victories in both the local and parliamentary elections," Kasapolli told Kosovo Online.

Commenting on Kurti's claims that the Self-Determination Movement has enough votes to elect the Speaker of Parliament and form a new government, and the assertion by GUXO MP Nezir Kraki that the coalition around the Self-Determination has the majority for the government but not for the Assembly, as these are "two separate processes," Kasapolli said that Kurti "wants everything," but that such claims "make no sense."

"The last parliamentary elections were disproportionate to the local elections. In the 2021 local elections, Kurti got only 170,000 votes, while in the parliamentary elections he received 400,000. That is a huge gap. Essentially, he wants to prolong the current situation until the local elections and ‘sell’ both himself and Self-Determination through combined local and parliamentary elections," Kasapolli argued.

When asked whether, if Self-Determination’s candidate were elected Speaker of Parliament, the same approach would be applied to voting for the new government, Kasapolli was firm:

"You can't change the rules of the game in the middle of the game. After the elections, in a meeting with former Speaker Glauk Konjufca, all political parties were present, and they agreed on the agenda of the new parliamentary session. After six or seven failed attempts, the Self-Determination decided to change the rules. But the Constitutional Court has clearly ruled that you cannot change the rules of the game mid-game. And that is crucial," Kasapolli insisted.

He emphasized that the Constitutional Court’s ruling is clear: the procedure for electing the Speaker of Parliament must follow the same process that has always been used.

"I believe Kurti sees he doesn't have the votes for a government, so he wants to delay the process until the local elections, as it suits him to hold both local and parliamentary elections on the same day," Kasapolli explained.

When asked about the possibility of MPs switching sides, the analyst expressed doubt.

"I don’t believe Kurti can find the votes now, especially not from the Albanian majority, and even less so from parties representing ethnic minorities. From the beginning, Kurti’s problem has not only been with Albanian political parties but also with other groups. That is why I don’t think anyone will give in now, especially since Kurti has been clear about who he is willing to negotiate with," Kasapolli said.

He reminded that Kurti openly invited the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) to form a coalition government, but that the party rejected the offer.

"LDK reiterated its position that it will not cooperate with the Self-Determination, which offers no guarantees or hope that Kurti will be able to find partners in the current composition of the parliament," Kasapolli concluded.