Kurti: Sejdiu Deal Still Stands Despite DSK Defectors
Albin Kurti says the agreement with the DSK on Bekim Sejdiu's presidential bid still stands, even as six DSK lawmakers refuse to back him and push Kosovo toward snap elections.
Vetevendosje leader and Kosovo’s acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti said late on Tuesday, September 1, that the agreement with the Democratic League of Kosovo (DSK) on Bekim Sejdiu’s candidacy for president of the republic still stands, despite six DSK lawmakers announcing they would not back him. Kurti made the comment after a meeting of the Vetevendosje parliamentary group, and his remarks were carried by Beta, Radio Free Europe and the daily Danas.
According to Kurti, support for Sejdiu inside his own parliamentary group had been unanimous. “On one hand, the DSK Presidency’s position of full support for Sejdiu as the presidential candidate was encouraging, and the two political parties agreed on that,” Kurti said. He added, however, that a contrary signal followed soon after. “After that, they received negative information that six of the DSK’s 18 lawmakers do not support Sejdiu for president of the Republic of Kosovo,” he said.
The acting prime minister said this shifts his party’s negotiating position. “This is a new situation that requires us, on one hand, to meet again with the DSK president, and also with the Vetevendosje Presidency,” Kurti said, announcing fresh talks with DSK leader Lumir Abdixhiku.
Srpske Vesti reported yesterday that six DSK lawmakers had publicly turned on Sejdiu, calling the two parties’ agreement into question for the first time. Kurti addressed the matter publicly today for the first time, insisting the deal still holds while placing the blame for a possible deadlock on the lawmakers who withheld their votes.
Arberie Nagavci, head of the Vetevendosje parliamentary group, was more pointed in her assessment of the six DSK lawmakers’ move.
“Saying no to a joint proposal aimed at unblocking the institutions is not the right decision and is not in the interest of citizens.”
The dissenting lawmakers are Hikmete Bajrami, Avdullah Hoti, Arben Gashi, Armend Zemaj, Kujtim Shala and Janina Imeri. Kurti and Abdixhiku announced Sejdiu’s candidacy on Monday, August 31. Sejdiu is a law professor at the University of Pristina, a former Constitutional Court judge, and a former ambassador to Turkey and consul general in New York. At the time, Abdixhiku described him as a candidate who would bring institutional balance, warning that failure to agree would push the country toward new snap elections.
The vote count itself is disputed. Radio Free Europe reports that all 53 Vetevendosje lawmakers backed the agreement with the DSK. Radio Gorazdevac, citing the results of the June 7 election, writes that Vetevendosje holds 62 seats, which combined with the DSK’s remaining 12 votes would put the total at 74. Neither figure is enough to elect a president in the first two rounds of voting, which require at least 80 of 120 votes. In a third round, a president can be elected with 61 votes, but only if at least 80 lawmakers are present in the chamber.
If no president is elected even then, the Kosovo Assembly is dissolved under the constitution, and new snap elections must be called within 45 days. That would mark Kosovo’s fourth trip to the polls since February 2025, in a little over a year and a half.
According to sources, the institutional deadlock in Pristina is already putting at risk the disbursement of funds from the European Union’s Growth Plan for Kosovo, money earmarked for territories that have gone months without constituted institutions since the June election.
Kurti’s announcement of new talks with Abdixhiku carries no date so far. The outcome of those talks will determine whether Pristina gets a president in the coming days or heads into preparations for a fifth election cycle in under two years.
