EU office encourages political parties to constitute Parliament soon

The European Union has encouraged political parties in Kosovo on Wednesday to respect the Constitutional Court's bias and to quickly constitute the Parliament, just hours after the latest failure of MPs to unblock it.

The EU's office in Kosovo told Free Europe Radio that the bloc “is carefully following developments related to the constitution and forming the Government”.

MPs gathered on Wednesday morning for the continuation of the constitutional hearing, after two days earlier the country's highest court published the full indictment regarding the case, which obliges them to make the new Assembly within a 30-day term, which expires on September 18th.

However, the constitutionalisation failed after none of the two candidates proposed by the winning party Vetevendosje Movement -- Albulen Haxhiu and Donika Grovalla -- failed to get more than 57 votes, which is 4 votes short of at least 61 votes required to be elected.

The EU office stressed that the early <x0 formation of the Assembly and Government is essential for Kosovo to move forward with important reforms in all sectors, which will improve the quality of life and the standard of living of Kosovo citizens”.

Video: No vote for Haxhiu and Gervala, anti-accused parties for blocking the Parliament

Meanwhile, the Italian Embassy in Pristina saw as encouraging the fact that the incumbent prime minister's Vetevendosje, Albin Kurti, proposed a new candidate for the chief parliament, as he had nominated only Hadziun in the past.

In a written response to the REL, the Italian Embassy said the Gervala's proposal “shows willingness to make progress, which will have to be confirmed in the coming days”.

“We hope that all political actors will work responsibly to ensure the constitution in time, in accordance with the Constitutional Court Act”, she said.

After the session, Vetevendosje accused the other major parties in the Assembly, such as the PDK, the LDK and the AAK, of proving that Haxhi's name was not the main problem, but that those “are aimed at blocking the formation of” institutions.

The PDK reiterated the position there is only a vote for a Vetevendosje candidate, who has not been part of the government in the preliminary mandate.

The LDK said Vetevendosje has known that Haxhiu and Gervala do not have enough votes. In the past, the LDK has repeatedly said it does not vote for any Vetevendosje candidate for chief parliament.

Meanwhile, the AAK said it expects even at its next session Vetevendosje to propose names for which there is no support.

The Social Democrat initiative said it would abstain and not vote until a political agreement is reached.

Continued session was scheduled for Friday, August 22nd.

Kosovo held parliamentary elections in February, but has not been able to establish new institutions ever since.

The whole month-long crisis comes from the lack of a political agreement among parliamentary parties, as neither party won the majority to govern alone.

Vetevendosje won 48 seats, The PDK came in second with 24 seats, the 20th-third LDK, followed by the Serb List -- the largest party of Serbs in Kosovo by 9.

Another 11 seats are minority. / REL/ Periscopi/