Kosovo's LDK Drops Presidency Bid, Stays in Opposition

Lumir Abdixhiku, leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), announced on the evening of August 13 that his party is withdrawing every demand it had raised in power-sharing talks, including its claim to the Kosovo presidency. He delivered the decision after a meeting of the LDK parliamentary group, following four rounds of talks with Self-Determination Movement (LVV) leader Albin Kurti that failed to produce a political agreement.

According to Abdixhiku, the LDK no longer seeks any ministry, no longer seeks the post of Assembly speaker, and no longer insists that the presidency go to its party. It will remain in opposition, offering in return a single concession: LDK votes for a non-partisan presidential candidate, someone a broader circle of parties could agree on.

At a news conference, Abdixhiku listed exactly what the party is giving up.

“LDK is dropping every demand to take part in government. We don’t want a single ministry. Self-Determination can keep them all. We are dropping our claim to the Assembly speakership and, most importantly, our claim to the presidency.”

This is a withdrawal from every position negotiated over the past two weeks, not a conditional offer. Abdixhiku also detailed his talks with Kurti: Self-Determination had offered the LDK three ministries and the post of deputy prime minister, which he turned down, saying it would have left his party with a decorative role. Since Self-Determination has made clear it does not need the LDK as a partner, he said, it will not have it as decoration either.

He then shifted responsibility for the next move onto the largest party.

“From this moment, no one has any reason or right to keep delaying the constitution of the Assembly, the formation of the government, and talks on the presidency.”

The deadline expired on August 7

Election results were certified on July 8, starting the thirty-day constitutional clock for constituting the Assembly. That deadline expired on August 7, and the Assembly still has no leadership. The constitutive session opened on August 6, but lawmakers elected neither a speaker nor deputy speakers, so the session remains formally open, interrupted and awaiting a continuation.

Albulena Haxhiu has served as acting president of Kosovo since April 2026, after Vjosa Osmani’s term expired, and in that role she is responsible for convening the Assembly’s constitutive session.

What can unblock the Assembly?

Arithmetic. Self-Determination and its coalition partners control 61 seats, a majority large enough to elect the Assembly’s leadership and form a government without the LDK. Until now, Self-Determination had insisted that a political deal must come before the institutions are constituted, and Abdixhiku’s withdrawal removes the very thing that deal was supposed to be about.

The presidency is a separate question, since electing a president requires broader support in the Assembly than forming a government does. There, the LDK is offering its votes, but only for a non-partisan figure, and it is refusing to back unilateral nominations.

Democratic Party of Kosovo wants the session to resume at 11 a.m.

The Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) submitted a request to session chair Dehari asking that the constitutive session resume on August 14 at 11 a.m. PDK lawmaker Perparim Gruda said the request was simply about following procedure.

“On behalf of the PDK, we submitted a request to the session’s chair, Dehari, asking that it resume tomorrow at 11 a.m., as the rules of procedure require.”

Gruda accused Self-Determination of preventing lawmakers from carrying out their mandate and called on Kurti to let Dehari convene the session, arguing that the chair’s role is procedural, not political.

The day before, the Assembly hall saw verbal and physical clashes, with water and paper thrown, as PDK and Alliance for Future of Kosovo (AAK) lawmakers pushed for the session to resume while Self-Determination representatives insisted a political agreement had to come first. During the Assembly’s open-door day, a visitor called for Ramush Haradinaj to be shot; he was arrested and ordered held for up to 48 hours.

The LDK’s new position was backed by Vjosa Osmani, until now seen as the party’s own candidate for president, who tied it to the effort to avoid a new election. AAK leader Ardian Gjini described the decision not to join a government with Kurti as the right and principled call.

Everything now depends on whether Friday’s 11 a.m. session actually resumes and whether Self-Determination uses the majority it holds. If that sitting, too, passes without the Assembly electing its leadership, the prospect of a new election, one both sides publicly reject, will stop being just a threat from the corridors.