Pavkovic: New government possibly by March, depending on when final election results are announced

Milos Pavkovic, Director of Strategy at the European Policy Centre in Belgrade, told Kosovo Online that it is not possible to determine precisely when Kosovo should receive a new government after the 28 December elections, because the certification of final results can be delayed, as was the case after the 9 February elections. Speaking broadly, he estimates that the government should be elected by March.

Pavkovic notes that the Constitutional Court decisions issued in recent months regarding deadlines and the procedure for electing the President of the Assembly of Kosovo have resolved some issues, while others remain open.

“The question of electing the deputy speaker remains unresolved, because the Constitutional Court has not responded to the complaint filed by the Serb List, given that Nenad Rasic was elected deputy speaker despite not having the Serb List’s support. The Court has not commented and likely will not, considering that we are entering a new cycle of parliamentary elections. The same scenario could potentially occur after the new elections, requiring another opinion from the Constitutional Court,” Pavkovic explains.

According to his calculations, the final election results should be announced in early or mid-January, but he notes that potential complaints must be taken into account, as they can delay the publication of results.

He stresses that the deadline for constituting the Assembly and electing the speaker and deputy speakers is fixed, and that the period between the constitution of the Assembly and the formation of the government is quite short.

“The party that wins the most votes is given 15 days to form the government, and if it fails to do so, the mandate—along with another 15 days—goes to the second-placed party or, potentially, as happened this time, to another nominee from the party that won the most votes. If the government is not elected, new snap parliamentary elections are called. Essentially, the timeframe within which the government should be elected is about 60 to 90 days, meaning early spring—March 2026. However, delays may occur primarily due to the certification of final results,” Pavkovic concludes.