The deadline set by the Constitutional Court requires the presidential election process to be completed by October 6.

The political deadlock has coincided with protests in Prishtina over proposed changes to legislation governing the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, with yesterday’s demonstrations turning tense and police using tear gas.

Protests continued into the evening, with demonstrators calling for the draft amendments to the law on the Specialist Chambers to be approved in a second reading. Parliament approved the bill in principle on Monday in an extraordinary session, with 91 votes in favour, none against and no abstentions.

Following the session, Vetëvendosje leader Albin Kurti met Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) leader Bedri Hamza, but the talks failed to produce an agreement on either the presidential election or the Specialist Chambers legislation.

Further protests have been announced for Tuesday by the Kosovo Liberation Army War Veterans Organisation (OVL-UÇK), calling for the legislation to be approved in a second reading.

In a September 23 ruling, Kosovo’s Constitutional Court clarified that the 60-day deadline for electing a president began on August 8, when parliament was constituted, and expires on October 6.

Failure to elect a president within the deadline could trigger another political crisis and potentially lead to new parliamentary elections, depending on the subsequent constitutional process.

Kosovo has held three parliamentary elections in the past two years. The February 2025 election failed to produce a government, while a second election, held on December 28, 2025, was followed by an institutional deadlock over the election of a president and ultimately the dissolution of parliament in April. A third parliamentary election was held on June 7, 2026.

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Speaking after a ceremony at which he and his wife, former Kosovo activist Shirley Cloyes DioGuardi, received Kosovo citizenship on Monday, DioGuardi said it was important for him to be in the country at a critical time.

“I am here to make sure that you have a president, and I hope it happens before I leave. If one is not elected by then, you will be in serious trouble, because you have enemies ready to disrupt the balance in the Balkans,” DioGuardi said.

He urged Kosovo’s political leaders to act quickly, saying now was not the time for the country to become complacent.

Shirley Cloyes DioGuardi, a longtime advocate for Kosovo, said her husband and Albanian-American activists had worked on the Kosovo issue since 1989, including by highlighting abuses against Kosovo Albanians under former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic.

Acting President Albulena Haxhiu described the DioGuardis as among the strongest voices in the United States in support of Kosovo and its independence. She said they had been friends and supporters of Kosovo long before it became an independent state and were now also its citizens.

Haxhiu presented citizenship decrees to Joe and Shirley Cloyes DioGuardi at a ceremony ahead of the news conference.

The DioGuardis have campaigned for Kosovo in the United States, raising the issue in Congress and advocating international action against Milosevic’s government during the 1998-99 war. They also supported NATO intervention and continued to lobby for Kosovo’s international recognition and independence after the war.

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The court set the April 28 deadline after annulling a decree by former president Vjosa Osmani to dissolve parliament, issued after lawmakers failed to elect a president by March 5 due to a lack of quorum.

If no president is elected by the deadline, the country must hold new elections within 45 days.

Parties have so far failed to agree on candidates.

Kosovo’s constitution requires at least 80 lawmakers to be present for the presidential vote to be valid. If no candidate wins in the first two rounds, a third round is held, in which 60 votes are sufficient to secure the post, provided the quorum is met.

At a session on Monday, attended only by members of the ruling majority, fewer than 70 lawmakers were present.

The session, called by the ruling Vetëvendosje, nominated Feride Rushiti and Hatixhe Hoxha as candidates.

Despite the lack of quorum, a first round of voting was held. Rushiti received 63 votes, Hoxha none, and one ballot was invalid.

Opposition parties and civil society groups said proceeding without quorum undermined the legitimacy of the process and the constitutional order.

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The ruling Vetevendosje (LVV) had called on opposition parties, the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), to jointly propose three non-partisan presidential candidates. Both parties boycotted the session.

The Constitutional Court has ruled that if lawmakers fail to elect a president by April 28, the country must hold snap parliamentary elections within 45 days.

Prime Minister Albin Kurti criticised the opposition during the parliamentary debate, accusing it of rejecting compromise and obstructing institutional processes.

“Political agreements and coalition compromises are normal in any democracy. Compromise is not a deal to accommodate political figures,” Kurti said.

He said responsibility for electing the president should be shared according to electoral strength.

“LVV carries 51.1% of the responsibility for electing the president, but not 100%,” he said.

Kurti said the opposition had failed to engage despite repeated outreach.

“LDK and PDK have not taken any initiative or proposed any names. When offered a concrete opportunity, they chose silence,” he said.

He added that their conduct was “clear evidence of a failure to assume proportional responsibility.”

Parliament Speaker Albulena Haxhiu said the boycott had institutional consequences, warning it risked blocking a constitutional process and deepening political deadlock.

Haxhiu said she had referred the matter to the Constitutional Court after a March 5 session collapsed due to lack of quorum, noting that the court had already ruled on MPs’ obligation to attend sessions.

“The answer was clear: this matter has already been decided. There is no room to evade this obligation,” she said.

“Members of parliament are required to attend and vote, except in cases of approved leave,” she added.

Haxhiu said she was not seeking to change the opposition’s position, but stressed that citizens expected lawmakers to take part in the presidential election process.

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Speaking at a government meeting, Kurti said the election of a president is a constitutional obligation requiring “the will to find a solution, readiness for compromise, and difficult decisions.”

“We are in the final part of April and a constitutional deadline is approaching. Going to elections, I believe, is not an option,” he said, adding that no party can secure 80 seats alone, making cooperation necessary.

Lawmakers have until April 28 to elect a head of state. If they fail, the country must go to early parliamentary elections within 45 days.

No party has enough votes to decide the outcome alone, so cross-party support is essential.

Kosovo has been without a full president since early April, increasing pressure to break the deadlock.

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Osmani said the amendments, sent to the Assembly of Kosovo, were originally drafted by a constitutional amendment commission in 2011 and aim to change the current system under which the president is elected by lawmakers.

Osmani said the move follows repeated failures by parliament to secure enough votes to elect a president.

“Following repeated failures to elect the president, I have submitted constitutional amendments to parliament for the direct election of the president,” Osmani wrote in a post on Facebook.

She called on all political parties to support the amendments.

“From now on, let the people speak,” Osmani said.

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Speaking to reporters after a meeting with The Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) leader Lumir Abdixhiku, Kurti acknowledged that despite willingness to elect a new president, cooperation between his Vetevendosje (LVV) movement and the opposition LDK would not be a guaranteed formula to secure the required votes.

Kurti said the two parties together command 81 seats in the 120-member parliament, but warned that such a slim margin would leave little room for defections in a presidential vote, which requires at least 80 votes in the third round.

Kosovo’s president is elected by parliament, with a two-thirds majority (80 votes) required in the first two rounds and a simple majority in the third, provided at least 80 lawmakers are present.

Abdixhiku, speaking separately, described his more than two-hour meeting with Kurti as constructive and substantive, but said the election of a president requires either a formal inter-party agreement or broad consensus around a single candidate.

He added that LDK would not join the government.

Kosovo is expected to elect a new president in the coming months, with political parties engaged in negotiations to avoid triggering early elections in case of a failed vote.

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Prime Minister Edi Rama: I think we have clearly delivered on what our goal was since the very beginning of this process and all reactions clearly speak for themselves, definitely except for some irrelevant reactions within the political spectrum. This means we have already given Albania a normal President, an indisputable and irrefutable figure in terms of integrity, humanism and, definitely, in terms of devotion and commitment to the country and the people.

– Are you Mr. Rama happy with this Socialist Party’s choice? Are you happy today? Are you happy about this newest victory of the Socialist Party?

PM Edi Rama: Happiness is actually a very big word to use, but what I can fully affirm is that I am very pleased that in a quite difficult process given the mixture salad of the factions within the other half of the Parliament’s sphere , we succeeded in finalizing a process, where everyone had the chance to contribute to without any exception and a process that has already produced a figure that is clearly no identifiable with us as the party to propose him, but a figure that is identifiable with the Albanian, decent and highly respectable Albanian, with the man loyal to the country and the post, a  model of the calm, reasonable and normal man.

-Mr. Rama, Mr. Begaj has been referred to SPAK regarding…(inaudible)

PM Edi Rama: These are irrelevant words and I repeat, because there are so many indictments and allegations are a sort of a national sport in this country, with lawsuits having been developed more than the democratic processes, as it used to take place in the form of anonymous letters in the past. So, I am not impressed by this fact. What I am pleased about and which is the reason I am here to issue a final statement on this issue, which was successfully finalized today, is that we have succeeded in providing Albanians with a meaningful example of the fact that we are here not for ourselves, but we are here with them and for them. This is the most important thing and time will show everything else. Everyone can be evaluated for their actions and deeds and their daily work performance. What we finalized today is the outcome of the work and a relatively long and absolutely difficult effort made by the whole leadership of the Socialist Party, the parliamentary group and the party’s chairmanship to deliver on this outcome.

– Mr Rama, with the process now over, do you regret that not a consensus President was elected, a figure that would have received the opposition backing too?

PM Edi Rama: We have never asked and we have never expected to reach consensus with the dead ones. We have been here to reach a consensus with the living people and I believe that consensus with the living people, and by it I mean all the people who believe and work for this country, people who wish to raise their children in this country, people who want this country to become better, and we have fully delivered on this by electing this President.

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The resolution states that “the DP won’t become part of the Socialist majority’s institutional farce in electing the country’s head of state.”

According to the resolution, the temporary Re-establishment Commission is mandated to appoint the representatives, who will negotiate with other opposition parties in order to unify their position regarding election of the new head of state.

The resolution also states that “any alternatives that would allow the Socialist Party to elect the next president with its votes only, or with votes secured without a true cross-party consensus will be turned down in parliament.”

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Speaking to reporters following a meeting of the SP’s chairmanship, Rama said that cross-party talks have started to come up with a candidate for the country’s next President, who would be acceptable to all parties.

“According to the information provided by our special group of representatives, the official talks are underway with the opposition and other parties in the Assembly of Albania in an effort to identify a candidate who would earn a broader consensus than our parliamentary majority,” the government head said.

PM Rama also said that he will attend the international donors’ conference for Ukraine due to be held in Warsaw on Thursday.

Answering to reporters about the request forwarded by Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky to close the Albania’s ports to Russian vessels and limit the number of Russian tourists Albania hosts, PM Rama said: “Our decisions are always in line with the decisions announced by the European Union. At the moment, the EU hasn’t come up with a unified decision and as long as no unified decision is in place, we will continue to operate the same way we’ve operated the previous years. It’s very simple: if the EU announces a decision, we will align with it.”

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