Kosovo Vote of No Confidence Set

01 Nov 2010 / 08:59

The government of Prime Minister Hashim Thaci will face a vote of no confidence on Tuesday following the collapse of Kosovo’s ruling coalition, which could lead to snap elections in December.
Lawrence Marzouk
It is not yet clear whether the motion will be approved by parliament, although statements from the country’s largest party, Thaci’s Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, suggest they will vote in favour to help the current government exit the ‘terrible crisis’.
In a PDK press conference on Sunday, the party’s spokesman, Blerand Stavileci, refused to say which way his colleagues would vote on Tuesday, but added that the PDK would “provide as much help as possible to bring the country out of this terrible crisis through constitutional and democratic means”.
He added that he did not see the motion as an attack on the government but as a means to exit the institutional crisis.
Acting president Jakup Krasniqi announced the date for the no confidence vote on Friday after the motion, drafted by the opposition New Kosovo Alliance, AKR, was signed by the requisite number of deputies, 40, and submitted to parliament. Only two members of the PDK signed the motion.
If the PDK, which has 34 deputies, now supports the vote of no confidence, which requires a majority of 61 out of 120 parliamentarians, it is very likely to be passed.
A successful vote of confidence will be followed by the dissolution of parliament, and emergency elections within 45 days.
The most likely dates for the snap poll are December 12 or 19, as elections are always held on a Sunday.
Kosovo has been embroiled in a political crisis since its Constitutional Court ruled on Friday, September 24 that the then president, Fatmir Sejidu, could not also hold the position of leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK.
The following Monday, Sejdiu resigned as president and consultations between parties began to determine a date for early elections.
On October 15, acting president Krasniqi, a member of the PDK, announced that the poll would be held on February 13.
But the next day, Sejdiu, as leader of the LDK, decided to break its coalition with Prime Minister Thaci's party, plunging the country deeper in political turmoil.
Since then, the PDK have been running the country as part of a minority government and with 12 out of the 18 ministerial positions filled.

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