On Sunday, Kosovo’s acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti,—head of Vetevendosje, the winning party in February’s elections—was unable to secure the necessary votes in parliament to start his third term in office.

During Sunday’s session, only 56 MPs voted in favor of his proposed cabinet—five short of the required 61 votes for approval—52 voted against, while four abstained.

This was the first time in more than two decades that Kosovo MPs have failed to elect a government on the first attempt. The country is now waiting for the President to either grant the mandate to another candidate, or call for snap elections. 

Kurti was granted the mandate to form the government on October 11 by President Vjosa Osmani—with 15 days to present his cabinet and program to the Assembly. Now, President Osmani has 10 days to nominate another political leader to form a new government.

Meanwhile, the Constitutional Court is still handling a complaint by Srpska Lista, the Belgrade-backed party representing Kosovo Serbs, objecting to the election of a deputy parliament speaker from the Serb community. Its ruling in this case could undermine the new parliament’s legitimacy.

The other major Albanian parties—the Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, and the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK,—have declared that they would not support Kurti, accusing him of causing an institutional deadlock since the February 9 parliamentary elections. Opposition parties insist that new elections are the only path to restoring political stability.

PDK leader Memli Krasniqi, whose party came second in the elections, said he would urge President Osmani to call snap elections immediately. According to the Constitution, elections must be held within 40 days of their announcement.

“Today it was proven that Albin Kurti is holding the country hostage. This is the end of a political deception that has cost Kosovo dearly, bringing isolation, division, and wasting time. Kurti will no longer be the Prime Minister of Kosovo,” Krasniqi declared, adding that, “any new government without Kurti will be good for the country.”

LDK leader Lumir Abdixhiku said that the winning party in the elections should make an effort to engage with all other parties to form a government and not wait until the final day to do so. He called the move a “populist show.” 

The leader of Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, AAK, Ramush Haradinaj, added that the outcome of the extraordinary session for the formation of the “Kurti 3” Government will be a failure. “The only remaining solution is elections, because there is no other offer,” said Haradinaj before the start of the session.

During the session, Igor Simic, representing  Srpska Lista, added that his party would not vote for Kurti’s government.

“In previous governments, you made hundreds of decisions against [the interests of] Serb citizens, and even against [the interests of] Albanians. We will not vote for such a government,” Simic told the assembly.

In his address to the MPs, Kurti presented his cabinet and government programme, emphasising judicial reforms and increased investment in defense. He described the delay in the formation of parliament as “unprecedented” and harmful to institutional functioning.

He warned that the absence of a new government could lead to the loss of millions of euros in international agreements, particularly the EU Growth Plan.

“Without a new government, the Republic risks heading into new elections without functional institutions and without an approved budget for next year, ” Kurti said.

He argued that major Albanian parties “have shown no willingness to co-govern,” which led to the current situation.

The parliamentary elections in Kosovo were held on 9 February 2025. By late April, nearly three months after the elections, Parliament had yet to elect a speaker, stalling the government formation process. The deadlock finally ended on August 26 when a speaker was elected and the process could move forward.