Kosovo

After the resignation of President Thaci

The president of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, resigned six months before the end of his term of office to face charges of war crimes brought by the professional chambers in The Hague.

Thaci, along with three other former high-ranking members of the Kosovo Liberation Army, UCK members-Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi, Jakup Krasniqi-have been indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Kosovo and Albania from "at least March 1998 to September 1999.

According to the ten-strong indictment, the four UCK men were part of a joint criminal enterprise and "shared the common goal of gaining and exercising control over the whole of Kosovo, including through unlawful intimidation, mistreatment, violence against and removal of those considered to be enemies".

The current developments have led to insecurity and tensions in Kosovo's political life. According to the Kosovo constitution, the office of President of the Republic automatically passes to the Speaker of Parliament. 

The Kosovo government now runs the risk of being dissolved if it does not manage to achieve a majority of at least 80 votes in the assembly for the election of the new president. While the governing coalition has called for the unification of all political parties and responsible institutional action, Vetevendosje has reiterated his call for early elections.

 The governing coalition has only 61 votes, which is insufficient for the election of the president. The opposition parties do not have a majority either. Vetevendosje has 31 deputies, the PDK 24.

When the professional chambers gave the first indications of arrests, the governing coalition's most important partner, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), lifted the red lines for all political entities, including the opposition party PDK. Sources said, however, that the ruling coalition partners will try to avoid early elections and expand the coalition with the PDK.

Meanwhile, the other partner in the ruling coalition, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, AAK, presented a list of proposals after an emergency meeting. It called on the government to suspend the dialogue with Serbia immediately and called on all political parties to act in unison when dealing with political and constitutional issues. At this meeting, however, the AAK did not mention the candidate for president Ramush Haradinaj, who had been announced months ago.

On the other hand, Vetevendosje is the only political party that insists on early elections, but so far they have not succeeded in initiating the motion of censure in the Hoti government, as it requires 40 signatures from deputies, but Vetevendosje has only 31.

The president of the liberal political party Alliance New Kosovo, AKR, Behgjet Pacolli, said that the president of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, had led Kosovo through his struggle for independence and freedom. He went on to say: "I believe in his innocence and will forever remain a supporter of his struggle to defend the Kosovo Liberation Army and its war. President Thaci and other fighters who fought for the freedom of Kosovo will prove to the world that the KLA was a liberation army and not a murderer! My support will be there for all heroes of freedom, Pacolli wrote.

Pacolli also called for a joint round table of political parties to achieve a common and unified approach to the Special Court, to set the date for the election of the President, to carry out a consensual electoral reform, to set the date of the elections for the autumn of 2022, to continue the dialogue with Serbia and to carry out a constitutional reform so that the President will be elected by the people in the future.