Shifting Focus of Kosovo Government Talks Hampers Deal

The course of talks in Kosovo on forming a new government changed yet again on Wednesday when the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, made yet another proposal to its potential senior partner, Vetevendosje, this time about who should get the post of parliament speaker as part of the splitting of power between them.

LDK's new proposal, which actually reverts to their old stand, is that it should temporarily get the post of parliament speaker - which Vetevendosje already took - until its presidential nominee is elected in parliament in 2021. After that, it will return the post of speaker back to Vetevendosje.

"LDK will have the [post of] parliament speaker until the election of the president. Then the position of parliament speaker will be passed to Vetevendosje," Avdullah Hoti, the head of LDK's parliamentary group, wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.

Late on Monday, the biggest party, Vetevendosje, sent a different draft to LDK, aiming to solve their differences by creating two more ministerial posts, so increasing the size of the cabinet from 12 to 14 ministers.

But LDK's deputy leader, Agim Veliu, dismissed the proposal submitted on Monday as "nothing serious that can get us out of the [deadlocked] situation".

It was the third proposal sent by Vetevendosje and rejected by LDK since the parliamentary election on October 6, sparking speculation that the crisis about forming the government may only end with new elections. It was just the latest bump in talks between the two parties that polled most votes.

Most of the problematic issues have meanwhile remained unresolved, resulting in a continuous to-and-fro between the two players.

International representatives who have been continuously calling for speedier talks feel...