Kosovo’s acting president, Albulena Haxhiu, has asked the Constitutional Court to clarify who can exercise presidential powers if the parliament fails to elect a president by the end of the day, after her six-month mandate expired on Sunday.

Haxhiu submitted the request on Monday, October 5, 2026, one day after the constitutional deadline for her term as acting president expired, the Office of the President told KALLXO.com.

“We have asked to determine how and by whom the necessary presidential powers are to be exercised after the expiry of the six-month period, when a new president has not yet been elected,” the presidency said.

The constitutional deadline to elect the new president ends after midnight on October 6. If the MPs fail to elect a president, the Parliament must be dissolved and new elections must be held within 45 days—the fourth elections for Kosovo in less than two years.

However, if Haxhiu’s mandate has ended, it is not clear who can exercise the powers of the President, dissolve the parliament and announce new parliamentary elections.

Haxhiu was elected Parliament Speaker for a second time on September 9, 2026, by the parliament that derived from the June 7, 2026 snap parliamentary elections.

According to Kosovo’s Constitution, the speaker of the parliament assumes the duties of the president when the office becomes vacant, but the period the speaker can serve as acting president is limited to six months. However, Haxhiu took the position of acting President back in April, after ex-President Vjosa Osmani’s five year mandate expired.

 The MPs’ failure to agree on a presidential candidate back then led to the elections in June. It is not clear whether her mandate as acting President restarted when she was reelected Parliament Speaker in September or continued since April 2026.

Meanwhile, the opposition parties the Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, and the Alliance for the  Future of Kosovo, AAK, gathered with the protesters in front of parliament on Tuesday and are demanding for the parliament to pass the second review of a draft law amending the law on the Kosovo Specialist Chambers. The ruling party Vetevendosje claims the President should be elected first.

On Monday, MPs voted to amend the law on the Hague-based court, which is part of Kosovo’s justice system, so that it may not impose jail sentences exceeding 15 years. But the amendment still needs a parliamentary committee review before it can return for a second reading.

After the parliamentary session ended, protesters demanded MPs vote on a second reading the same day. They blocked MPs from leaving the chamber and forcibly pushed ruling Vetevendosje party MP Fahrush Rexhepi back inside the parliament’s perimeter.

The protest, which escalated even further on Monday evening, ended with several injured and three arrested by the Kosovo Police.  Meanwhile, on Tuesday the Kosovo Police Inspectorate notified that it has started an investigation into whether there was excessive use of force against protesters by the Kosovo Police, after several videos were published of police beating a couple of protesters.

According to the Parliament’s procedures, “the second review cannot be done earlier than 72 hours from the day of its adoption in principle, with the exception of a state of emergency or declaring a State of Emergency.” If the parliament is dissolved after midnight on Tuesday, it will not be possible for the amendments to be voted on.