Fifty-one civil society organisations on Friday called on Kosovo’s leaders to break the deadlock preventing the inauguration of parliament and formation of a new government.

The call came just before MPs failed for the 20th time to constitute parliament following the February 9 elections, after the winning party’s candidate for the post of speaker, Vetevendosje’s Albulena Haxhiu, yet again failed to obtain support from other parties.

“We call on parliamentary party leaders to take the responsibilities they have been entrusted with and act immediately to overcome the political crisis,” the statement by the 51 groups said. “Inaction is not an option. Any further delay requires public accountability,” the civil society organisations said.

They said the institutional crisis that has followed the elections has exceeded “all tolerable limits”, threatening “the functioning of the entire democratic system of the country.

“The current [outgoing] government, whose mandate has expired, is continuing to work without parliamentary oversight and control, which is an unacceptable situation for a democratic country,” the statement added.

Donika Gervalla Schwarz, a Vetevendosje MP and acting Foreign Minister, told media after the latest session that “parliament is blocking itself”, adding that this “leaves a bad taste among Kosovo’s friends.

“The political battle should be about the election of the government,” Gervalla Schwarz said, referring to the constitutional provision that grants the post of speaker to the party that came first in the election.

“The situation should be urgently unblocked and then it’s up to [acting PM] Albin Kurti to take the responsibility to form the government,” she added.

Vlora Citaku, from the opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, said 103 days had been lost since the elections that could have been used to address citizens’ concerns.

“The PDK stands for constructiveness. We stand ready to open the way and we have offered alternatives [for the post of Sspeaker] but Kosovo is being held hostage to Albin Kurti’s stubbornness,” Citaku said.

Last week, President Vjosa Osmani brought leaders of the main parties together to find a solution but no agreement was reached.

Osmani warned that constitutional principles were being “jeopardised” and that the consequences for Kosovo could be serious.

She cited a “delay in disbursements from the EU growth plan of about 900 million euros”, delays to obtaining membership of international organisations and to passing laws – as well as damage done to public trust and the country’s image.

The Constitutional Court has not set a deadline to constitute parliament; the formation of a government also cannot start without the election of a speaker and deputies.

Kosovo’s legal framework requires parliament to meet every 48 hours until its inauguration, meaning that its next session will be on May 25.