In a political move that seems to be aimed at ending the institutional deadlock, the President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, has taken the official step to change the way the head of state is elected. Through a public announcement, she confirmed the sending of constitutional amendments to the Assembly of Kosovo, which provide that the President of the Republic will be elected by direct vote of the citizens, thus avoiding parliamentary voting.
Reasons for the proposal
According to President Osmani, this initiative is dictated by the political reality of the country and the challenges that have often accompanied the process of electing the president inside the Assembly hall. These difficulties to achieve quorum or political consensus have often provoked unnecessary crises, which, according to her, require a final solution by passing decision-making directly to the sovereign.
In her argument, Osmani conveyed a clear message to all political forces in the country, asking for support for this fundamental reform.
“Seeing the successive failures in the election of the President, I have just proceeded in the Assembly with the constitutional amendments for direct elections of the President. From now on, let the people speak!” she says.
Challenges of approval in the Assembly
Despite the progress of the amendments, the road to changing the Constitution of Kosovo is complex. In order to be approved, constitutional amendments require two-thirds (2/3) of the votes of all deputies of the Assembly, as well as necessarily two-thirds (2/3) of the votes of deputies representing non-majority communities. This means that the President’s initiative will be subjected to a strong test of negotiation and broad cross-party will in the coming days.
