Violence Erupts as Kosovo Parliament Set to Decide President

Ahead of the election of a new President of Kosovo, opposition parties have urged their supporters to gather in front of parliament, where they have been sleeping in tents as part of their campaign to force the government to resign.

Members of the Assembly are due to vote on Friday for a new President of Kosovo with Hashim Thaci, the Foreign Minister and leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, as the favourite candidate.

Reports emerged from the PDK camp that Thaci supporters from his stronghold in the Drenica region planned to travel to Pristina on Friday to celebrate his election, which added to worries about possible clashes in Pristina.

Late on Thursday Thaci denied such claims, however.

“Some celebrate, some others protest at the same time… There is an interest among citizens in coming [to celebrate] and we will respond to it coolly and calmly,” he said.

Police officials told BIRN that they were ready to meet any trouble. “The police have undertaken all necessary preparations to provide security and public order during the Assembly session and to manage the protests expected to be held by other parties,” spokesperson Daut Hoxha said.

A PDK MP, Xhavit Haliti, on Thursday urged both sides to play down talk of unrest.

“It is understandable that one side will celebrate and the other side will be upset. But I would call on both sides to avoid confrontations,” Haliti said.

The special parliamentary session tasked with electing the President was summoned on Wednesday amid tear gas thrown during the meeting by an opposition member.

Ramush Haradinaj, head of the opposition Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, AAK, on Thursday voiced his party’s bitter objections to the Friday’s session and to the nomination of Thaçi as the candidate for President.

“We want the resignation of those who have violated the constitution, not the election of one of the constitutional violators as President,” he said.

“The election of Hashim Thaçi as President of Kosovo is not a solution,” Haradinaj added.

He was referring to the controversial agreements that the Kosovo government signed last August with Serbia and Montenegro, which the opposition has denounced as unconstitutional ever since.

“The opposition will object to the election of the President both inside and outside the Assembly,” Haradinaj warned.

As the vote approaches, it is still unclear when and whether Thaci will actually be elected President of Kosovo.

A coalition agreement signed between Thaci and Prime Minister Isa Mustafa’s Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, in December 2014, agreed that the post of Prime Minister should belong to the LDK, while the President’s post would go to the PDK once the mandate of the current President, Atifete Jahjaga, expires in April.

The constitution foresees three possible rounds of votes for the post. In the first two, the President must be elected with the votes of at least 80 of the 120 assembly members. If these fail, however, the President can be elected by only 61 votes in the third round.