The Constitutional Court of Kosova ruled that the Speaker of the Assembly must be elected by an open vote. It also ordered the Assembly’s constitutive process to finish within thirty days.

This decision came after months of political deadlock following the 9 February parliamentary elections. The winning party, Vetëvendosje, nominated only Albulena Haxhiu for the Speaker position. However, the party insisted on holding a secret ballot despite a previous court ruling.

On 8 August, the Court found that Avni Dehari, the presiding person of the constitutive session, ignored the Court’s 26 June decision. Because of this, the Court invalidated all sessions held from 27 June to 26 July. It instructed that the session resume from agenda item three, approved on 8 April 2025.

The Court also ordered the largest parliamentary group to nominate a candidate. The election must happen through an open vote. Each nominee may have up to three attempts. Moreover, all deputies must be present and vote for the Speaker and Deputy Speakers.

Deputies ignored the initial 26 June deadline to form the Assembly. Because of this, the Court imposed temporary measures while reviewing cases from the Democratic Party of Kosova (PDK) and the Democratic League of Kosova (LDK).

Between 15 April and 26 July, deputies held fifty-four continuation sessions without electing a Speaker. On 1 May, Avni Dehari changed the agenda. He replaced the open vote with a proposal to create a commission that would oversee a secret ballot.

PDK, LDK, the Alliance for the Future of Kosova (AAK), and the Serb List rejected this change. Their representatives refused to nominate members to the commission.

Before 1 May, when the open vote was still in place, Albulena Haxhiu failed multiple times to get the required sixty-one votes. PDK and AAK called her a “divisive figure”. LDK said it will not support any Vetëvendosje candidate for Speaker.

/a.p./