Pavkovic: Kosovo moving from an institutional into a political crisis

Milos Pavkovic, Strategic Director at the Center for European Policies, assessed that Kosovo is slowly sinking “from an institutional into a political crisis,” and that the latest decision of the Constitutional Court ended one “agony” – the constant repetition of parliamentary constitutive sessions – but opened a new one: the possibility of snap elections, which are “highly questionable” due to the division of political forces.

“It is the end of an agony because we now finally have a clear procedure for the election of the speaker of parliament, and it will no longer be possible for institutions to remain blocked for so long as they have over the past six months. Now, after one month, or if the speaker is not elected after three attempts, there will be snap elections, which in this situation is the most likely scenario. But that opens a new agony,” Pavkovic told Kosovo Online.

He explained that the snap parliamentary elections are “highly questionable” as to whether they will succeed in resolving the existing institutional crisis because of the division among political forces.

“That is a new, political agony. From an institutional one, we are moving into a political crisis,” Pavkovic emphasized.

Commenting on the fact that the Constitutional Court did not directly propose elections as a solution, Pavkovic said that this is an additional problem.

“Obviously, a new opinion of the Constitutional Court will be sought if, after 30 days or three attempts, no speaker of parliament is elected, which only prolongs the uncertainty,” the analyst said.

He added that from the current perspective, if the issue arises again, the Constitutional Court should provide definitive answers.

“Simply to avoid any further prolongation of the entire political crisis. But of course, that remains a question for the political actors and the Constitutional Court in Kosovo. And also a question for the international community – whether there will be some kind of intervention, suggestions, or pressure on political actors to resolve the crisis. These are all open questions at this moment,” Pavkovic stressed.