Lumir Abdixhiku has retained his position as leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, after surviving an internal vote seeking his removal. He has announced that the party will resume talks with the ruling party Vetëvendosje on the formation of new state institutions.

Speaking after the extraordinary party assembly on Thursday, Abdixhiku said the LDK’s priority was to “unite the party and contribute to political stability in Kosovo”.

“The LDK needs unity, while the Republic needs institutional stability, functional institutions and a politics that places the state’s interest above all other calculations,” he wrote on Facebook on Friday.

After the vote on Thursday, Abdixhiku stated that he was lifting his earlier suspension of talks with Vetëvendosje, saying the party was once again prepared to negotiate on forming the country’s new institutions.

“From tomorrow onwards we will try to continue the discussions where we left off,” he said.

The extraordinary assembly was convened after more than one-third of LDK delegates signed a request for a vote of no confidence following the party’s weak performance in the June 7 parliamentary elections, after which the LDK remained Kosovo’s third-largest political force.

In the secret ballot, Abdixhiku secured the backing of 170 delegates, while 152 voted for his dismissal, and five abstained.

Although the vote was secret, several senior party figures had publicly declared before the assembly that they supported his removal, including MPs Hykmete Bajrami, Avdullah Hoti, Arben Gashi,  Armend Zemaj, and Peja Mayor Gazmend Muhaxhiri.

Addressing delegates after the vote, Abdixhiku described the extraordinary assembly as “unnecessary” adding that the outcome placed an obligation on the party to unite and reform. 

“This assembly was unnecessary and ill-timed. We have damaged [the confidence of] our supporters. The result places an obligation on the LDK to unite and reform,” he said.

He added that delegates had also endorsed the party leadership’s proposal to support the establishment of Kosovo’s new institutions.

“The delegates supported our initiative to give the country its institutions,” he said.

The LDK won 16 percent of the vote and 18 seats in the June elections, running in alliance with former President Vjosa Osmani. Calls for Abdixhiku’s resignation came immediately after the result and culminated in the petition that led to Thursday’s vote of no confidence.

Following the assembly, MP Hykmete Bajrami wrote that she had voted for Abdixhiku’s removal, saying that 152 delegates believed the party needed a new direction.

“Yes, I was among the 152 delegates who believed the LDK needed change, but another 170 delegates thought differently,” she wrote on social media.

Osmani, meanwhile, congratulated Abdixhiku on remaining party leader.

“Not every victory is ordinary. Some victories become an inspiration. This is one of them,” she wrote.

Abdixhiku had suspended negotiations with Vetëvendosje’s leader Albin Kurti after delegates submitted the petition seeking his dismissal.

He and Osmani met Kurti on July 10 to discuss the formation of Kosovo’s new institutions following the elections. Although the meeting produced no agreement, both sides said they were willing to continue negotiations.

Kosovo’s newly elected parliament is scheduled to convene on August 6. Once the legislature is formally constituted, lawmakers will have 60 days to elect a new president. Political parties’ failure to reach an agreement on the presidency earlier this year led to the June parliamentary elections.

LDK’s Internal Rift Raises Questions Over Party’s Future Leadership