Vetëvendosje

With a fourth government in two years taking power in March, Kosovo's publicly-owned enterprises face a new round of firing and hiring.

The most senior positions in state-run firms are traditionally filled with political appointees, who invariably depart when a new government enters office.

The election of Kosovo's next president took a new twist on Friday when the Vetevendosje [Self-Determination] party's parliamentary group called a meeting of the parliamentary presidency to examine a request to amend the Law on Election, suggesting that new snap polls might be on the horizon, less than two months after Kosovo's last elections.

After a meeting with LDK MPs, party leader Lumir Abdixhiku said that the party would take part in an upcoming vote in parliament on Kosovo's next president, with former assembly speaker Vjosa Osmani widely seen as the frontrunner.

The Belgrade-backed Kosovo Serb party Srpska Lista submitted a complaint to Kosovo's Constitutional Court on Monday, seeking a ruling against the decision of Prime Minister Albin Kurti to give them only one ministry in his new cabinet instead of the usual two.

The move comes one week after Kosovo's parliament elected Vetevendosje head Albin Kurti as Prime Minister.

Six weeks after snap elections, parliament in Kosovo on Monday voted in Albin Kurti as Prime Minister for the second time within 13 months, after a long parliamentary debate.

Some 67 of the 120 MPs in the parliament supported Kurti's candidacy while 30 voted against. 

Kosovo's potential Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, has used his growing popularity in the wider Albanian diaspora to call on ethnic Albanians from North Macedonia to take part in that country's census.

In snap elections in Kosovo on February 14, Kurti's Vetevendosje party received the support of more than 75 per cent of the more than 50,000 votes that Kosovars living abroad cast.

Taking Stock

Kosovo Acting President, Vjosa Osmani, L), and leader of Vetevendosje Movement, Albin Kurti, R), give a joint victory speech after the preliminary results of February 14 snap parliamentary elections showed Vetevendosje won by a landslide. Photo: BIRN/ Urim Krasnii

Kosovo's election winner, Albin Kurti of the Vetevendosje (Self-Determination) Movement, has for the past two days been in the parliament building holding meetings with leaders of all political parties that won seats in the February 14 general elections, trying to form a government quickly before turning to the issue of the country's next president.

Lumir Abdixhiku has been elected the new chairperson of the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, exactly one month after Kosovo's oldest party was humbled disastrously in parliamentary elections, promising to restore the party "to its original place".

There's no love lost between Edi Rama and Albin Kurti. But if Rama wins a third term as Albanian prime minister, their relationship may shape relations between Albania and Kosovo for years to come, with ramifications for the region.