16 Oct 2010 / 05:12
Emergency elections look set to be announced in Kosovo on Monday after the junior government partner decided on Saturday to withdraw from the coalition led by the Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK.
Lawrence Marzouk
If the Kosovo assembly is dissolved on Monday, as appears likely, elections will be held 45 days later on December 2. As elections must be held on a Sunday, likely dates are December 5 or 12, although the timing could change again.
The move comes one day after the acting President, Jakup Krasniqi, a member of the the PDK, had announced that elections would be held on February 13 following the resignation of the country’s President, Fatmir Sejdiu, last month.
Meanwhile, the decision of the government's junior partner, the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, to leave the coalition, has caught the PDK and other political parties by surprise. A series of emergency meetings are currently being held in Pristina to determine the next political moves.
The Deputy Prime Minister, Hajredin Kuci, member of the PDK, told Radio Free Europe that the LDK’s decision had put the country in an "institutional crisis". He said: "An emergency election can be one of the ways to get out of the crisis as soon as possible."
In a statement announcing the LDK’s decision to break the government coalition, the party said it would withdraw its deputy prime minister, ministers and deputy ministers from the government on Monday after carefully analysing the latest developments in Kosovo.
The LDK added that it "remained committed to being a powerful contributing factor in all the important processes of democratic government".
Valdete Daka, head of Kosovo's Central Election Commission, CEC, said that it would face a major challenge if extraordinary elections are to be held.
"If the Kosovo assembly is dissolved on Monday, then for us it will be very difficult," Daka told the television station KTV.
"Sincerely I hope this will not happen because the CEC would be in a difficult situation.”
If the Kosovo assembly is dissolved on Monday, as appears likely, elections will be held 45 days later on December 2. As elections must be held on a Sunday, likely dates are December 5 or 12, although the timing could change again.
The move comes one day after the acting President, Jakup Krasniqi, a member of the the PDK, had announced that elections would be held on February 13 following the resignation of the country’s President, Fatmir Sejdiu, last month.
Meanwhile, the decision of the government's junior partner, the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, to leave the coalition, has caught the PDK and other political parties by surprise. A series of emergency meetings are currently being held in Pristina to determine the next political moves.
The Deputy Prime Minister, Hajredin Kuci, member of the PDK, told Radio Free Europe that the LDK’s decision had put the country in an "institutional crisis". He said: "An emergency election can be one of the ways to get out of the crisis as soon as possible."
In a statement announcing the LDK’s decision to break the government coalition, the party said it would withdraw its deputy prime minister, ministers and deputy ministers from the government on Monday after carefully analysing the latest developments in Kosovo.
The LDK added that it "remained committed to being a powerful contributing factor in all the important processes of democratic government".
Valdete Daka, head of Kosovo's Central Election Commission, CEC, said that it would face a major challenge if extraordinary elections are to be held.
"If the Kosovo assembly is dissolved on Monday, then for us it will be very difficult," Daka told the television station KTV.
"Sincerely I hope this will not happen because the CEC would be in a difficult situation.”
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