Run parties for pre-election coalitions

So far, only the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) has confirmed the pre-election coalition with the Social Democrat Party (PSD).

Ramush Haradinaj, chairman of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, at a joint media conference with PSD Chairman Shpend Ahmeti has said that, apart from the PSD, the AAK is open to other partners.

“Today it is the completion of a joint job, not an easy one. This job was based on the programming objectives of the PSD and the AAK, and we have managed to bring together the best experts in the party. We are open to co-operation with the Initiative, AKR with these parties that we also have mutual communication. No targets PAN 2 or PAN 3, we are not part of the scenarios for a new PAN, and we say that responsibly”, Haradinaj said after signing the agreement with the PSD.

Shpend Ahmeti said they will compete together in the extraordinary elections with the AAK with a joint governing programme.

“This is a political and electoral co-operation, taking into account several lines of co-operation that we have had in the past years, but that have expanded in other areas, with which we will compete together with a joint governing programme”, Ahmeti said

Ahmeti also said that the list of this coalition would lead AAK chairman Ramush Haradinaj, adding that it does not end here with pre-election coalitions, as this coalition could expand with other parties.

The Democratic League of Kosovo has already been declared that in the elections it will go as the only party, though it has not ruled out the possibility of coalitions with political spectrum parties, except for the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK).

The chairman of this party, Isa Mustafa, has held separate meetings with several parliamentary parties on Monday, but he has so far provided no clarification concerning the reason and content of these meetings.

After meeting with Mustaf, president of Shpend Ahmeti's PSD has said the meeting was very positive, but has not provided an answer to possible coalitions.

Mustafa has also met with party chairman Social Democrat Initiative Fatmir Limaj. After the Limaj meeting, he said he would talk to all partners and then decide on a possible coalition.

We have talked about all the possible topics of this treatment and you know the location of the Initiative more or less. This remains the organs to finally decide in the coming days. We'll talk to all our partners and then Initiative appreciates these two things. First, its party and second interest is that the election process is only a phase. The second phase is very important, what the government is compounded and how responsible it is to perform the work it takes to carry out”.

On the other hand, political analysts in Pristina claim that the political system in Kosovo is one that cannot create a government without coalitions, and for that reason political parties are obliged to find partners.

Artan Mujariri, political analyst, in a conversation for Radio Free Europe, says pre-election coalitions are more stable.

It's very harmful for post-election coalitions to become improvised and increasingly principled. And this is one of the reasons no government has been able to complete its mandate. After post-election coalitions have been made considering the maths of achieving that 61 MPs to form the government, rather than clear and sound political principles for long-term joint functioning”, Mujaziri said.

Discussions of coalition and early elections have started after Ramush Haradinaj has resigned from the position of Kosovo Prime Minister on 19 July this year.

He has made that decision after being invited by the Special Court to interview the suspect's quality.

As a consequence of this situation, Kosovo's Assembly will hold an extraordinary session Thursday, where distribution of the current legislature is expected to take place.