Prime Minister Albin Kurti, leader of the ruling Vetevendosje party, snubbed talks with political leaders on Friday as Kosovo’s President, Vjosa Osmani, attempted to set a date for new snap parliamentary elections – a move triggered by parliament’s failure to elect a new president within the appointed deadline.

Kurti disregarded Osmani’s call to attend a joint meeting with all leaders and opted to attend an exhibition held in parliament, downstairs from the President’s office at a time when Osmani was in consultation with other leaders.

Later, Kurti called Osmani’s decree to dissolve parliament “unconstitutional” and announced an appeal to the Constitutional Court.

“I don’t think we can talk about new elections without the Constitutional Court having its word… No round of voting [on a president] has taken place yet… There should be a failure [to elect a president] in the third round before dissolving parliament and going to new elections,” Kurti said.

“I don’t see how they can bring about a solution because we are speaking about a quorum of 80 MPs which we need to secure together… on the contrary, there will be a kind of continuation of the legislative and institutional agony, which is unnecessary and unjust. Furthermore, [elections] will cost at least 10 million euros,” he added.

New Snap Elections Loom as Kosovo President Dissolves Parliament

A parliamentary session on Thursday, which started two hours before the constitutional deadline to elect the new head of state, was halted by the lack of a quorum. Only 66 of the 120 MPs were present – 14 short of the number required.

Opposition MPs boycotted the session after Vetevendosje insisted on its own candidate for the presidency, failing to agree on a consensus name with opposition parties, and rejecting a second term for Osmani.

Minutes after the parliamentary vote failed on Thursday, speaker Albulena Haxhiu announced that she had asked the court to assess the “constitutionality of the procedure for the election of the president of the Republic of Kosovo”.

Bedri Hamza, head of the opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, insisted that Osmani had acted in line with the constitution when she decreed a dissolution of parliament on Friday. He blamed Vetevendosje for the failure to elect a president.

“Elections are totally unnecessary. They are exhausting for citizens, costly for reforms and other developments and they bear a financial cost,” Hamza said after the meeting with Osmani.

“But no party could elect a new president besides the winning party [Vetevendosje]. They could have elected a president [in cooperation] with any other party,” he added.

Ramush Haradinaj, another opposition leader, from the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, AAK, criticised Kurti for rejecting the invitation from the president to the meeting with other parties, calling it “an insult to the country and institutions”.

Haradinaj mentioned April 5, 12 and 19 as possible dates for new elections should Osmani’s decision survive Constitutional Court scrutiny.