Kosovo Court Says Govt Can be Formed Without Elections

The Constitutional Court of Kosovo on Thursday ruled that President Hashim Thaci did not make an unconstitutional decision when he gave a mandate to a new prime minister to form a new administration without holding fresh elections.

He took this action after the outgoing ruling party, Vetevendosje, did not nominate anyone for the role.

The court ruling sparked anger from Vetevendosje, which has demanded snap elections since its government was ousted in March in a vote of no confidence, and has threatened to stage street protests.

Outgoing Deputy Prime Minister Haki Abazi accused the Constitutional Court of handing down a political verdict rather than a legal one.

"The argumentation and reasoning of the [Court] decision is political and anti-democratic and in no way legal or constitutional," Abazi wrote on Facebook on Friday morning.

Avdullah Hoti, who Thaci tasked with forming the new government as Kosovo, welcomed the ruling. "It is time to unite for the future of the country and our citizens. Nobody has lost," Hoti wrote on Facebook.

The United States, Kosovo's key Western backer, urged state institutions and political parties to respect the Constitutional Court decision.

"We ask all leaders to work together for an orderly transition in the interest of peace, stability, and prosperity for all the people of Kosovo," the US embassy in Pristina said in a statement.

Hoti was put forward for the role of prime mnister by the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, the party that was part of the Vetevendosje-led administration under Albin Kurti, which which also instigated the no-confidence vote in March that toppled the short-lived government.

After Kurti's government fell, Thaci consulted all the parties in parliament...