The three main institutions in Kosovo have been led for months by officials who are either in office or acting. After the swearing-in of the deputies of the 11th legislature of the Assembly of Kosovo on August 6, the legitimacy of the state heads has been called into question.
Albin Kurti has been the acting prime minister since the dissolution of the Assembly, which led to the early elections on June 7, while the speaker of the tenth legislature, Albulena Haxhiu, has been acting president since April 4, after the end of Vjosa Osmani’s five-year term as head of state. However, both Kurti and Haxhiu were sworn in as members of the new legislature on August 6, and the fact that they continued to hold positions in the Government, Assembly and Presidency after being sworn in as members of parliament, according to observers, constitutes a violation. Vullnet Bugaqku from the Kosovo Democratic Institute (KDI) and Ema Pula from the Group for Political and Legal Studies (GLPS) assess that Kurti, but also the other members of the executive who have been sworn in as MPs, are violating a provision of the Law on Government, as they argue that they should resign from executive positions after being elected as MPs.
“A public official cannot simultaneously be an elected, sworn-in MP, and also be the prime minister, even in office, or a minister in office,” Bugaqku assessed for Radio Free Europe.
Pula says that based on the principle of separation of powers, members of the Government who are elected MPs cannot also hold executive positions, so “consequently they cannot also make decisions at the executive level”. Kurti was previously the acting Prime Minister, after the elections of February last year, which were followed by a political crisis, when MPs for months failed to form the country’s new institutions due to the lack of consensus. The powers of the acting Government are limited by the Law on Government. It states that the acting executive carries out only the necessary activities planned in the annual work plan and the annual budget law. The acting Government, among other things, is not allowed to: approve initiatives for international agreements that require ratification by the Parliament, approve draft constitutional amendments, draft laws, strategies and concept documents, initiate new procedures for appointments to public positions.
After being sworn in as an MP, Kurti pledged in a press conference that he would respect the limitations set out in the law, but stated that he would continue to hold the position of acting prime minister. “I continue to be acting prime minister and I will fully and meticulously respect the constitutionality and legality, including the Law on Government,” he said.
Bugaqku from KDI says that the decisions of acting officials can be “very easily” contested in court and annulled, making, according to him, the principle of legal certainty in the country vulnerable “because the decisions are being made by persons who are no longer authorized to take those decisions.” However, for Bugaqku and Pula, the most problematic issue is the exercise of the office of president by the speaker of the previous legislature, Haxhiu, after being sworn in as an MP on August 6.
“In this specific case, since Ms. Haxhiu has been sworn in as an MP, there is no longer a constitutional basis for her to continue to exercise the office of president, since the exercise of this office is directly related to holding the position of speaker of the Assembly,” says Pula from GLPS. The law on the president stipulates that the position of acting president can be exercised for no longer than six months, which means that Kosovo can have an acting president until October 4. Bukaqku says that the leadership of the state by officials who do not have full legitimacy is unprecedented and unacceptable. “This does not honor either the state or the citizens of Kosovo, because the main institutions of the state, namely the Assembly, the Government and the Presidency, are continuing to be without legitimate heads who hold these positions,” he says.
He states that there should be a new interpretation of the Constitutional Court that would clarify the legitimacy of holding the positions of Speaker of the Assembly and Members of Parliament.
“The decision-making aspect and the role, the behavior, that the Speaker of the Assembly can have while simultaneously acting as the acting president is already questionable and very suspicious, because the Assembly of Kosovo has not been constituted within the constitutional deadline. And consequently we do not yet know how valid the mandates of these deputies are,” he says. Kurti and Haxhiu are continuing to hold the three main state positions, while the new legislature has not yet completed the constitution of the legislative body. According to a ruling of the Constitutional Court, published in June of last year, deputies must constitute the Assembly, that is, elect its president and five vice-presidents, within 30 days from the date of certification of the results of the June elections. This date expired at midnight on August 7.
But Albin Kurti’s Vetëvendosje Movement, which won the June elections, argues that this deadline began on August 6, when the constitutive sessions began.
Kurti is refusing to nominate a candidate for speaker, while seeking an agreement with political entities on the issue of the president – the disagreement on which caused the June elections. Regarding the issue of the deadline for constitution, several non-governmental organizations have addressed the Constitutional Court to take action regarding its judgment on this issue. As Kosovo is facing successive institutional and political crises, as it has held three parliamentary elections since February 2025 and citizens can again turn to the ballot boxes in the event of a new president not being elected, Pula from GLPS says that these crises have directly affected the functioning of institutions and the exercise of their constitutional and legal powers.
According to her, the formal dysfunction of institutions produces direct and long-term consequences for citizens.
“The delay in the functioning of institutions hinders the making of necessary decisions, delays reforms, and limits the ability of institutions to respond effectively to the needs and problems of citizens,” Pula told Radio Free Europe. She states that in addition to the impact within the country, the institutional crisis also weakens the state’s position internationally, “undermining its credibility as a partner, making it difficult to advance its European agenda, but also membership in international organizations.” One possible consequence, if the country fails to have new institutions, could be the permanent loss of millions that the European Union has allocated to Kosovo under the Growth Plan. (RFE)